BackgroundThe application of microRNAs (miRNAs) as potential biomarkers and therapy targets has been widely investigated in many kinds of cancers. The discovery of tumor associated miRNAs in serum of patients supported the use of plasma/serum miRNAs as noninvasive means of cancer detection. However, the aberrant expression of miRNAs in bladder cancer patients and their intensive roles and mechanisms in bladder cancer are poorly understood.MethodsTaqman probe stem-loop real-time PCR was used to accurately measure the levels of miR-19a in bladder cancer cell lines, 100 pairs of bladder cancer tissues and the adjacent non-neoplastic tissues and also the plasma collected from bladder cancer patients and normal controls. miR-19a mimics and inhibitors were transfected into bladder cancer cells to investigate its role on regulating cell proliferation which was measured by CCK-8 and colony formation assay. The target of miR-19a was identified by western blot and whether its regulatory role depends on its target was improved by a rescue experiment with miR-19a mimic and PTEN expression plasmid.ResultsmiR-19a was significantly up-regulated in bladder cancer tissues and high-level of miR-19a was correlative with more aggressive phenotypes of bladder cancer. Meanwhile, gain or loss of function of miR-19a demonstrated that miR-19a can promote cell growth of bladder cancer cells and the further mechanism studies indicated that its oncogenic role was dependent on targeting PTEN. Furthermore, investigation of miR-19a expression in the plasma of bladder cancer patients showed that miR-19a was also increased in plasma of bladder cancer patients which strongly supported miR-19a could be developed as potential diagnostic marker of bladder cancer.ConclusionsOur data indicated that miR-19a might act as an oncogenic microRNA in bladder cancer and was significantly up-regulated in bladder cancer carcinogenesis. The oncogenic role of miR19a in bladder cancer was dependent on targeting PTEN.

BackgroundIncreasing evidences have documented that microRNAs (miRNAs) act as oncogenes or tumor suppressors in a variety types of cancer. The discovery of tumor associated miRNAs in serum of patients gives rise to extensive investigation of circulating miRNAs in many human cancers which support the use of plasma/serum miRNAs as noninvasive means of cancer detection. However, the aberrant expression of miRNAs and the circulating miRNAs in bladder cancer are less reported.MethodsWe used Taqman probe stem-loop real-time PCR to accurately measure the levels of miR-99a in bladder cancer cell lines, 100 pairs of bladder cancer tissues, the adjacent non-neoplastic tissues and plasma collected from bladder cancer patients or control patients. miR-99a mimics were re-introduced into bladder cancer cells to investigate its role on regulating cell proliferation which was measured by CCK-8 assay and cell cycle analysis.ResultsmiR-99a was significantly down-regulated in bladder cancer tissues, and even the lower expression of miR-99a was correlative with the more aggressive phenotypes of bladder cancer. Meanwhile, enforced expression of miR-99a can inhibit the cell proliferation of bladder cancer cells. Furthermore, investigation of the expression of miR-99a in plasma of bladder cancer patients showed that miR-99a was also decreased in plasma of bladder cancer patients. The results strongly supported miR-99a as the potential diagnostic marker of bladder cancer.ConclusionsOur data indicated that miR-99a might act as a tumor suppressor in bladder cancer and was significantly down-regulated in development of bladder cancer.

BackgroundThe application of microRNAs (miRNAs) as potential biomarkers and therapy targets has been widely investigated in many kinds of cancers. The discovery of tumor associated miRNAs in serum of patients supported the use of plasma/serum miRNAs as noninvasive means of cancer detection. However, the aberrant expression of miRNAs in bladder cancer patients and their intensive roles and mechanisms in bladder cancer are poorly understood.MethodsTaqman probe stem-loop real-time PCR was used to accurately measure the levels of miR-19a in bladder cancer cell lines, 100 pairs of bladder cancer tissues and the adjacent non-neoplastic tissues and also the plasma collected from bladder cancer patients and normal controls. miR-19a mimics and inhibitors were transfected into bladder cancer cells to investigate its role on regulating cell proliferation which was measured by CCK-8 and colony formation assay. The target of miR-19a was identified by western blot and whether its regulatory role depends on its target was improved by a rescue experiment with miR-19a mimic and PTEN expression plasmid.ResultsmiR-19a was significantly up-regulated in bladder cancer tissues and high-level of miR-19a was correlative with more aggressive phenotypes of bladder cancer. Meanwhile, gain or loss of function of miR-19a demonstrated that miR-19a can promote cell growth of bladder cancer cells and the further mechanism studies indicated that its oncogenic role was dependent on targeting PTEN. Furthermore, investigation of miR-19a expression in the plasma of bladder cancer patients showed that miR-19a was also increased in plasma of bladder cancer patients which strongly supported miR-19a could be developed as potential diagnostic marker of bladder cancer.ConclusionsOur data indicated that miR-19a might act as an oncogenic microRNA in bladder cancer and was significantly up-regulated in bladder cancer carcinogenesis. The oncogenic role of miR19a in bladder cancer was dependent on targeting PTEN.

The clinical predictive factors for malignant testicular histology remain unclear because of the low prevalence. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate predictors of malignant histology for testicular masses and decide more testis-sparing surgeries before surgery. This retrospective study enrolled 325 consecutive testicular mass patients who underwent radical orchiectomy (310/325) or testicular preserving surgery (15/325) from January 2001 to June 2016. The clinicopathological factors, including tumor diameter, cryptorchidism history, ultrasound findings, serum alpha-fetoprotein, and human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) levels, were collected retrospectively for statistical analysis. A predictive nomogram was also generated to evaluate the quantitative probability. Among all patients, 247 (76.0%) were diagnosed with a malignant testicular tumor and 78 (24.0%) with benign histology. Larger tumor diameter (per cm increased, hazard ratio [HR] = 1.284, P = 0.036), lower ultrasound echo (HR = 3.191, P = 0.001), higher ultrasound blood flow (HR = 3.320, P < 0.001), and abnormal blood HCG (HR = 10.550, P < 0.001) were significant predictive factors for malignant disease in all testicular mass patients. The nomogram generated was well calibrated for all predictions of malignant probability, and the accuracy of the model nomogram measured by Harrell's C statistic (C-index) was 0.92. According to our data, the proportion of patients who underwent radical orchiectomy for benign tumors (24.0%) was much larger than generally believed (10.0%). Our results indicated that the diameter, ultrasonic echo, ultrasonic blood flow, and serum HCG levels could predict the malignancy in testicular mass patients.

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The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) and acupuncture therapy for patients with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS). We searched electronic databases including PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase and web of science from its inception to June 1, 2021. The randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared ESWT and acupuncture in the management of CP/CPPS were identified. A network meta-analysis was conducted with the software of STATA 14.0. Nine RCTs with 525 patients were enrolled in our analysis. The results revealed that both ESWT and acupuncture were significantly better than the sham procedure in the outcomes of total score of NIH-CPSI, pain subscore, urinary symptoms subscore, QoL subscore, IPSS score, the IIEF score and response rates ( p < .05). Both ESWT and acupuncture were well-tolerated and had no obviously increased adverse events. Compared with acupuncture, ESWT was associated with better short term (<4w) and mid-term (8-12 w) efficacy of total score, pain subscore, urinary symptoms subscore, and QoL subscore of NIH-CPSI, IPSS score, IIEF score, and response rate. However, ESWT did not present better long-term (<24 w) outcomes than acupuncture in total score, pain subscore, urinary symptoms subscore, and QoL subscore of NIH-CPSI. Both ESWT and acupuncture were effective and well-tolerated in the management of CP/CPPS. ESWT seemed to have better short (<4 w) and mid-term (8-12 w) efficacy but similar long-term (>24 w) efficacy than acupuncture.

Objective: The clinical implications of B7H1 and B7H4 in pancreatic cancer have been described however, the prognostic significance of these genes in pancreatic cancer patients remains inconclusive. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic role of B7H1 and B7H4 in pancreatic cancer patients. Methods: Electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library) were searched for relevant articles published before May 2019. Meta-analyses were performed by pooling the hazard ratios (HRs) between overall survival or cancer-specific survival and high or low expression of B7H1/B7H4 in pancreatic cancer patients. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed, and sources of variabilities were explored by performing meta-regression. Results: Sixteen studies (1434 patients’ data) were included. Compared with low expression, high expression of B7H1 was associated with significantly poor overall survival (HR 1.92 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.35, 2.74); P<0.001) and cancer-specific survival (HR 2.46 (95% CI 1.55, 3.90); P<0.001). High expression of B7H4 also predicted poor overall survival (HR 2.38 (95% CI 1.89, 3.00); P<0.001). In subgroup analyses, a significant association between B7H1 and overall survival was observed for trials conducted in China (HR 2.08 (95% CI 1.29, 3.34)) but not in Japan (HR 1.98 (95% CI 1.33, 2.96)); or in studies with <50% patients having high expression (HR 2.02 (95% CI 1.40, 2.91)) but not in studies with >50% patients with high expression (HR 1.40 (95% CI 0.87, 2.26)). Conclusion: The current study suggests that high B7H1 and B7H4 expression is associated with a poor prognosis in pancreatic cancer patients.

This study evaluates the prognostic role of carbohydrate antigen 19 to 9 (CA19-9) in predicting survival of pancreatic cancer patients. Literature search was conducted in electronic databases (Google Scholar, Ovid, PubMed, and Science Direct) and study selection was based on precise eligibility criteria. Random-effects meta-analyses were performed to achieve overall estimates of median survival and hazard ratios (HRs) of survival with cutoff defined lower and higher CA19-9 levels before and after surgery or chemotherapy (CT)/radiotherapy (RT) and the changes in CA19-9 levels after any treatment. A total of 41 studies (6519 patients; 42% females; age 63.3 years [95% confidence interval [CI]: 62.2, 64.4]) were included. A pooled HR of 1.79 with a narrow 95% CI (1.58, 2.01) showed that higher CA19-9 levels or less decrease in CA19-9 levels after treatment predicted shorter survival. Median survival in patients with lower and higher preoperative CA19-9 levels was 23.2 months [95% CI: 17.2, 29.2] and 14.0 months [95% CI: 10.9, 17.2], respectively, whereas median survival with lower and higher postoperative CA19-9 levels was 25.0 months [95% CI: 21.9, 28.0] and 13.0 months [95% CI: 10.9, 15.0] respectively. Median survival with lower and higher pre-CT/RT CA19-9 levels was 11.9 months [95% CI: 10.2, 13.6] and 7.7 months [95% CI: 6.2, 9.2], respectively, whereas median survival with lower and higher post-CT/RT CA19-9 levels was 15.1 months [95% CI: 13.2, 17.0] and 10.7 months [95% CI: 7.3, 14.0] respectively. A decrease in CA19-9 levels after treatment was also associated with longer survival. Thus, both pretreatment and posttreatment CA19-9 levels or their changes after treatment have good prognostic value in determining the survival of pancreatic cancer patients.