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Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients with a synchronous or metachronous lung tumor can be diagnosed with lung metastasis (LM) or a second primary tumor (SPT), but the accurate discrimination between LM and SPT remains a clinical dilemma. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of using the whole-exome sequencing (WES) technique to distinguish SPT from LM. Methods: We performed WES on 40 tumors from 14 patients, including 12 patients with double squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) of the esophagus and lung (lymph node metastases were sequenced as internal controls) diagnosed as LM according to pathological information and 2 patients with paired primary ESCC and non-lung metastases examined as external controls. Results: Shared genomic profiles between esophageal (T) and lung (D) tumors were observed in 7 patients, suggesting their clonal relatedness, thus indicating that the lung tumors of these patients should be LM. However, distinct genomic profiles between T and D tumors were observed in the other 5 patients, suggesting the possibility of SPTs that were likely formed through independent multifocal oncogenesis. Conclusions: Our data demonstrate the limitations and insufficiency of clinicopathological criteria and that WES could be useful in understanding the clonal relationships of multiple SCCs.

The outbreak of anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum spp. represents a devastating epidemic that severely affects oil tea (Camellia oleifera) production in China. However, the unknown resistance mechanism to anthracnose in C. oleifera has impeded the progress of breeding disease-resistant varieties. In this study, we investigated the physiological responses of resistant and susceptible lines during C. gloeosporioides infection. Our results showed that the accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and peroxidase (POD) in both disease-resistant and susceptible lines increased by C. gloeosporioides infection. Also, disease-resistant lines exhibited lower MDA, but higher POD, SOD, and CAT activities compared to susceptible lines. The accumulation of flavonoids in both resistant and susceptible C. oleifera leaves increased following C. gloeosporioides infection, and the increase was greater in resistant lines. Further, we identified and functionally characterized the dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (CoDFR) from the resistant C. oleifera line. We showed that the full-length coding sequence (CDS) of CoDFR is 1044 bp encoding 347 amino acids. The overexpression of CoDFR in tobacco altered the expression of flavonoid biosynthetic genes, resulting in an increased flavonoid content in leaves. CoDFR transgenic tobacco plants exhibited increased anthracnose resistance. Furthermore, the transgenic plants had higher salicylic acid content. These findings offer potential insights into the pivotal role of CoDFR involved in flavonoid-mediated defense mechanisms during anthracnose invasion in resistant C. oleifera.

Esophageal basaloid squamous cell carcinoma (bSCC) is a subtype of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) with a different behavior and poor prognosis. Exploring bSCC's molecular characteristics and treatment strategies are of great clinical significance. We performed multi-omics analysis of paired bSCC and common SCC (cSCC) using whole exome sequencing and a NanoString nCounter gene expression panel. Immunohistochemistry was used for verification of candidate biomarkers. Different treatment response was analyzed on both patients receiving neoadjuvant treatment and late-stage patients. The common genetically-clonal origin of bSCC and cSCC was confirmed. No significant differences between their genetic alterations or mutation spectra were observed. Mutation signature 15 (associated with defective DNA damage repair) was less prominent, and tumor mutational burden (TMB) was lower in bSCC. bSCC with an RNA expression pattern resembling cSCC had a better survival than other bSCCs. Moreover, bSCC showed significant upregulation of expression of genes associated with angiogenesis response, basement membranes, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and downregulation of KRT14 (squamous differentiation) and CCL21 (associated with immune response). Immunohistochemistry for SFRP1 was shown to be highly sensitive and specific for bSCC diagnosis (p < 0.001). In addition, bSCC receiving neoadjuvant immuno-chemotherapy had a worse pathological response than bSCC receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (but without statistical significance), even in bSCC positive for PD-L1. Our results demonstrated the molecular characteristics of esophageal bSCC as a subtype with a distinct RNA expression pattern and immune characteristics, but no specific genetic mutations. We provided a useful biomarker, SFRP1, for diagnosis. After outcome analysis for six bSCCs with neoadjuvant immunotherapy treatment and four late-stage bSCCs with immunotherapy, we found that immunotherapy may not be an effective treatment option for most bSCCs. This may also provide a clue for the same subtypes of lung and head and neck cancer. Our study highlighted the heterogeneity among bSCC patients, and might explain the conflicting results of bSCC outcomes in existing studies.

The association of the peripheral lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (lMr) with α-fetoprotein (aFP) status in patients with aFP-positive and aFP-negative hepatocellular carcinoma (Hcc) has not been investigated in detail. The aim of the present study was to examine the association between the lMr and aFP status in these patients. The samples were obtained from patients with a hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, who were negative for non-HBV hepatitis viruses and who did not suffer from autoimmune hepatitis. These patients were retrospectively reviewed and the differences of test indicators in the aFP-negative and aFP-positive groups were assessed. Flow cytometry was used to detect the expression levels of cd4, cd8 and programmed cell death protein 1 (Pd-1), and eliSas were used to analyze the expression levels of interleukin (il)-10 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1. in addition, luciferase reporter assays were used to assess binding of the il-10 promoter to the glucocorticoid receptor (Gr) gene. receiver operating characteristic curve and Spearman correlation analyses demonstrated that the aFP-negative Hcc group exhibited a higher LMR, lower D-dimer and lower fibrin degradation products compared with the aFP-positive Hcc group. The cutoff value of the lMr was 2.01 for aFP detection, with a sensitivity of 68.6% and a specificity of 75%. The high LMR noted in the aFP-negative Hcc group was accompanied by a lower proportion of cd4 + T lymphocytes and cd8-Pd-1 expression compared with the corresponding levels of these parameters in the aFP-positive Hcc group. Furthermore, the high levels of il-10 and low levels of TGF-β1 were expressed in the aFP-positive Hcc group. The data indicated that the IL-10-592 promoter exhibited a potent induction of luciferase activity in 293T cells cotransfected with a GR-overexpressing vector compared with the control cells. However, the relative luciferase activity was not altered following a mutation or polymorphism in the il-10 gene. These results suggested that a high lMr was indicative of low aFP expression in HBV-associated Hcc patients.

Phosphorus (P) is an indispensable macronutrient for plant growth and development, and it is involved in various cellular biological activities in plants. Camellia oleifera is a unique high-quality woody oil plant that grows in the hills and mountains of southern China. However, the available P content is deficient in southern woodland soil. Until now, few studies focused on the regulatory functions of microRNAs (miRNAs) and their target genes under low inorganic phosphate (Pi) stress. In this study, we integrated small RNA, degradome, and transcriptome sequencing data to investigate the mechanism of low Pi adaptation in C. oleifera. We identified 40,689 unigenes and 386 miRNAs by the deep sequencing technology and divided the miRNAs into four different groups. We found 32 miRNAs which were differentially expressed under low Pi treatment. A total of 414 target genes of 108 miRNAs were verified by degradome sequencing. Gene ontology (GO) functional analysis of target genes found that they were related to the signal response to the stimulus and transporter activity, indicating that they may respond to low Pi stress. The integrated analysis revealed that 31 miRNA–target pairs had negatively correlated expression patterns. A co-expression regulatory network was established based on the profiles of differentially expressed genes. In total, three hub genes (ARF22, WRKY53, and SCL6), which were the targets of differentially expressed miRNAs, were discovered. Our results showed that integrated analyses of the small RNA, degradome, and transcriptome sequencing data provided a valuable basis for investigating low Pi in C. oleifera and offer new perspectives on the mechanism of low Pi tolerance in woody oil plants.

Background pT1b esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients treated by endoscopic resection (ER) required additional treatment with surgical resection (SR) or chemoradiotherapy (CRT) according to 2020 Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society (JGES) guideline. Given the evidences for this recommendation were largely based on small-size studies, our study collected 166 cases of ER-treated pT1b patients in order to investigate the efficacy of additional SR as compared to ER-alone treatment. Methods A multi-institutional retrospective study in China was conducted. The pT1b ESCC treated by ER + SR (n = 42) and ER-alone (n = 124) from 2007 to 2018 were recruited. Meanwhile, patients with positive lymphovascular invasion (LVI(+)) and/or with positive vertical margin (VM(+)) were put into high-risk group, and those with both VM(−) and LVI(−) were selected into low-risk group. The clinicopathological parameters, lymph node metastasis (LNM), and survival between ER + SR and ER-alone groups were analyzed. Results In high-risk group, concurrent LNM revealed in surgically resected specimens accounted for 52.6% cases in ER + SR group. After surgical removal, the incidence of post-resection LNM dropped down to 5.6%. However, in low-risk group, patients with ER + SR treatment did not exhibit any concurrent LNM in surgically resected specimens, and the incidence of their overall LNM was similar to that in ER-alone group (0% vs. 2.8%, p = 1.000). More importantly, these cases demonstrated significantly shorter overall survival (OS) than that in ER-alone group (81.8% and 100.0%, respectively, at 3 years; log-Rank: P = 0.010). Conclusions For ER-treated pT1b patients in high-risk group, additional SR is strongly recommended. However, for those in low-risk group, additional SR does not generate much benefit for clearance of LNM, but brings harm to shorten their OS. Therefore, additional SR is not recommended for ER-treated pT1b patient in low-risk group.

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