Abbreviations & Acronyms AJCC = American Joint Committee on Cancer ccRCC = clear cell renal cell carcinoma cDNA = complementary deoxyribonucleic acid CFS = cancer-free survival CI = confidence intervals CSS = cancer-specific survival FFPE = formalin fixed paraffin embedded HIF-1a = hypoxia-inducible factor-1a HR = hazard ratio IFN-a = interferon-a IHC = immunohistochemistry miRNA = micro-ribonucleic acid NS = not significant PI3K = phosphoinositide 3-kinase qRT-PCR = quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction RCC = renal cell carcinoma RNA = ribonucleic acid SE = standard error

Abstract. Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. In particular, scirrhous type GC is highly metastatic and is characterized clinically by rapid disease progression and poor prognosis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play crucial roles in cancer development and progression. We previously demonstrated by microarray analysis that microRNA-145 (miR-145) is one of the more highly expressed miRNAs in scirrhous type GC vs. non-scirrhous types of GC. In the present study, we investigated the role of miR-145 in scirrhous type GC. The expression levels of miR-145 assessed by quantitative RT-PCR were higher in scirrhous type GC tissue samples than in non-scirrhous type GC and corresponding normal tissues. GC patients with high miR-145 expression were at a more advanced tumor stage (P=0.0156) and had more scirrhous type histology (P=0.0054) than those with low miR-145 expression. Furthermore, miR-145 expression was significantly associated with poor prognosis in GC patients (P=0.0438). miR-145 expression was localized in stromal fibroblasts of scirrhous type GC but not in cancer cells. miR-145 was induced by treatment by transforming growth factor-β, and it enhanced the expression of α-smooth muscle actin, a marker of myofibroblasts, in both normal gastric fibroblasts and cancer-associated fibroblasts. These data suggest that miR-145 may contribute to the progression of scirrhous type GC by regulating activation of peri-tumoral fibroblasts.

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ObjectivesTo investigate the impact of pretreatment serum C-reactive protein (CRP) level and its change after targeted therapy on the anti-tumour effect of targeted agents in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). Patients and MethodsThe serum CRP level in 190 cases of molecular targeted therapy for mRCC was measured before starting the prescription of molecular targeted agents and when computed tomography showed the maximum effect. Patients in which the pretreatment CRP level was ≥0.5 mg/dL were classified into a 'higher-CRP' group and others into a 'lower-CRP' group. The higher-CRP group was further classified into two subgroups, i.e. those whose serum CRP level decreased after molecular targeted therapy ('decreased-CRP' subgroup), and those whose level did not decrease after therapy ('nondecreased-CRP' subgroup). All patients were also classified according to their other clinical details and progression-free survival (PFS) rates of each subgroup were compared. ResultsOf the 190 patients, 97 were categorised as lower CRP and 93 as higher CRP, with 50 and 43 patients in the higher-CRP group further categorised as decreased-and non-decreased-CRP subgroups, respectively. For the maximum effects of the targeted therapy, determined based on the Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST) criteria, in the lower-CRP group, significantly more patients had a complete response (CR) and partial response (PR) (P = 0.002) and significantly fewer had progressive disease (PD) (P < 0.001) vs the higher-CRP group. In the higher-CRP group, significantly fewer patients had PD in the decreased-CRP subgroup (P < 0.001) than those in the non-decreased-CRP subgroup. The 2-year PFS rate for the lower-CRP group (39.1%) was significantly better vs the decreased-CRP subgroup (21.2%; P = 0.013) and significantly better vs the non-decreased CRP subgroup (0%; P < 0.001). Multivariate analyses in the higher-CRP group revealed that decreased CRP was an independent predictive factor for PFS (P = 0.002, hazard ratio 2.454, 95% confidence interval 1.404-4.290). ConclusionA decrease of CRP and pretreatment CRP levels show promise as a novel predictive factor for anti-tumour effects in patients treated with molecular targeted therapy.

Our data indicate that the personalized 3D printed model of the kidney is useful for preoperative education among patients and their families who underwent RAPN, especially in elderly people.