Objective:To investigate the expression of hsa_circ_0000437 in the serum of patients with gastric cancer and its clinical value.Methods:The serum samples from 80 patients (57 males and 23 females) with pathologically confirmed gastric cancer (GC), 50 gastric benign disease (28 males and 22 females) and 80 healthy controls (46 males and 34 females) were collected from October 2018 to December 2020 in Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University.Serum samples from 35 of 80 gastric cancer patients after operation were collected. The expression of serum hsa_circ_0000437 was determined by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen 199 (CA 199) and carbohydrate antigen 724 (CA724) were determined by chemiluminescence method.Comparisons of serum hsa_circ_0000437 between groups were performed by Mann-Whitney U test.The correlation between serum expression of hsa_circ_0000437 in gastric cancer patients and its clinical pathological characteristics was performed by χ 2 test.Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the area under the curve of ROC (AUC) were used to evaluate their diagnosis efficiency. Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis was used to analyze the relationship between the expression level of serum hsa_circ_0000437 and the prognosis of patients. Results:The relative expression of hsa_circ_0000437 in GC, gastric benign disease, healthy controls were 2.252 (1.235, 4.765), 1.598(1.139, 1.982) and 1.000 (0.818, 1.385) respectively.The relative expression of hsa_circ_0000437 in GC was significantly higher than that in gastric benign disease ( P<0.001) and healthy controls ( P<0.001). The difference between gastric benign disease and healthy controls was also statistically significant ( P<0.001).The differences of serum hsa_circ_0000437 expression in GC patients between T stage, N stage, and tumor differentiation were statistically significant. The AUC of hsa_circ_0000437, CEA, CA199 and CA724 in GC patients were 0.863, 0.619, 657 and 0.608 respectively compared with healthy controls. The AUC of above four-parameter panel was 0.892 and the sensitivity was up to 97.5% (78/80). Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed that the overall survival rate of patients with high serum hsa_circ_0000437 expression was significantly lower than that of patients with low expression ( P=0.008). Conclusion:Serum hsa_circ_0000437 could be a biomarker for the auxiliary diagnosis and prognosis of GC.

Objective:To investigate the expression and its diagnostic value of long-chain non coding RNA (lncRNA) and colon cancer-related transcript-2 (CCAT2) in serum of patients with cervical cancer (CC).Methods:Serum samples of 100 CC patients, 60 CIN patients and 80 healthy people enrolled by Nantong Tumor Hospital from January 2016 to June 2017 were collected.The expression levels of CCAT2 in sera of CC patients and their corresponding postoperative patients, CIN patients and healthy controls were detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). The correlation between CCAT2 and clinicopathological features, as well as the traditional auxiliary diagnostic makers of CC, such as carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) and squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC) was analyzed. The working characteristic curve (ROC) of the subjects was used to evaluate the CCAT2 pair in the auxiliary diagnostic value of cervical cancer.Results:The relative expression levels of serum CCAT2 in patients with cervical cancer, patients after operation, patients with CIN and healthy controls were1.689 (0.616, 4.776), 1.018 (0.227, 3.328), 0.815 (0.453, 1.266) and 0.740 (0.271, 1.670), respectively.The relative expression of CCAT2 in cervical cancer patients was significantly higher than that in post-operative patients, CIN patients and healthy controls. The difference was statistically significant( t=6.999,8.193,9.345, P<0.001).There was no significant difference in the relative expression of CCAT2 between CIN patients and healthy controls ( t=0.327, P>0.05).The relative expression of CCAT2 in serum of cervical cancer patients had no significant difference in age 1.636(1.000,2.370),1.705(1.095,2.243) (χ 2=0.137, P=0.712) and menopause 1.672(1.059,2.342),1.659(1.068,2.298) (χ 2=0.000, P=1.000), but had significant difference with tumor size expression1.189(0.916,1.725),2.019(1.537,2.497)(χ 2=17.508, P=0.000),International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (FIGO) staged expression stage 0.993(0.779,1.266),2.056(1.547,2.549),3.987(3.699,4.275)(χ 2=36.075, P=0.000) and lymph node metastasis 1.434(1.007,2.251),2.019(1.731,3.098) (χ 2=8.634, P=0.003). There was no correlation between the relative expression of serum CCAT2 and CA125 ( r2=0.003, P=0.563) and SCC (r 2=0.128, P=0.000).The diagnostic efficacy of serum CCAT2, CA125 and SCC in cervical cancer patients was analyzed by ROC curve. When compared with CIN patients, the areas under the curve were 0.890, 0.549 and 0.744, respectively. When compared with healthy patients, the areas under the curve were 0.857, 0.650 and 0.758, respectively. Conclusions:The level of serum CCAT2 in patients with cervical cancer is significantly higher than that in patients with cervical cancer, CIN patients and healthy controls. Serum CCAT2 may be a relevant marker for the diagnosis and prognosis of cervical cancer.

The initiation of tumor is a complex process with multi-factor participation, particularly the activation of oncogenes and/or inactivation of tumor suppressor genes. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in tumorigenesis. Additionally, as a metabolic process in cells, autophagy also contributes greatly to differentiation, metastasis and chemoresistance of tumor cells, and has become a central topic in recent years. The understanding of connection between lncRNAs and autophagy as well as their mechanisms underlying tumorigenesis, can provide new ideas for the diagnosis and treatment of tumors.

Objective: To analyze the auxiliary diagnostic value of prostate cancer-associated non-coding RNA transcript1(PCAT-1) in serum of colorectal cancer(CRC) patients. Methods: The serum samples were collected from 73 patients with CRC who underwent surgical treatment and were diagnosed by pathology, 54 patients with colorectal polyps and 62 healthy controls at the Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University from October 2015 to January 2017. The serum level of PCAT-1 in CRC patients, colorectal polyps and healthy controls were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, respectively. The relationship between the level of PCAT-1 and the clinical pathologic feature was analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic curve(ROC) was used to evaluate the diagnosis value of PCAT-1, carcinoembryonic antigen(CEA), carbohydrate antigen 199 (CA199) alone and the combination of one of them in CRC. Results: The relative expression of PCAT-1 was 2.190 0(0.852 5, 6.715 0), 0.586 5(0.331 8, 1.697 0), 0.530 0(0.127 5, 0.957 5) respectively in CRC patients, colorectal polyps and healthy controls. The expression level of serum PCAT-1 in CRC patients was not related to the age (U=593, P=0.753 3), sex (U=536, P=0.390 8), tumor size (U=549, P=0.557 2) and location (U=584, P=0.426 7), but there was related to the degree of tumor differentiation (U=30, P=0.038 4) and tumor staging (U=399, P=0.005 0). ROC curve was used to analyze the expression of serum PCAT-1, CEA and CA199 for the diagnostic efficiency of CRC. The area under the curve(AUC) of ROC were 0.836, 0.756, 0.493 respectively in comparing CRC patients with healthy controls. The sensitivity of three joint tests was 93.2%(68/73), which was higher than that of single index. The area under the curve of ROC were 0.739, 0.673, and 0.515 respectively in comparing CRC patients with colorectal polyps. The sensitivity of three joint tests was 95.9%(70/73), which was higher than that of single index. Conclusions PCAT-1 maybe has auxiliary diagnosis of CRC. The combination of PCAT-1, CEA and CA199 remarkably improved the diagnostic efficacy of CRC.(Chin J Lab Med, 2018, 41: 514-518)

Objective: To explore the diagnostic value of serum cell-free DNA (cfDNA) concentration and integrity for esophageal carcinoma. Methods: Venous blood samples from 68 patients with esophageal cancer, 36 patients with benign esophageal lesions and 45 healthy subjects were collected. Circulating cfDNA was verified through quantitative real-time PCR (Alu-qPCR) using Alu-115 and Alu-247 primers. DNA integrity index was calculated as the ratio of Alu-qPCR results (Alu247/115). Concentrations of carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA) and squamous cell carcinoma associated antigen (SCC) were detected by chemiluminescence analyzer assay. Statistical analysis was performed using Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis H test and Spearman correlation test. The Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic efficiency of each index to esophageal carcinoma. Results: The median absolute serum Alu115 and the Alu247/115 index (1 162.0 ng/ml, 0.57) in esophageal cancer group were significantly higher than those in benign esophageal disease group (496.7 ng/ml, 0.43) and in healthy control group (432.3 ng/ml, 0.42) (all P<0.01, respectively). The Alu115 and Alu247/115 index of serum DNA in benign esophageal disease group were no statistically different from those in the healthy control group (all P>0.05, respectively). The levels of cfDNA and its integrity were not significantly correlated with age, gender, tumor differentiation, or disease stage according to American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system in the esophageal cancer group (all P>0.05). The serum Alu247/115 index of Stage Ⅲ patients was higher than that of Stage Ⅰ~Ⅱ patients(P<0.05). The serum Alu247/115 index of Stage Ⅳ was higher than that of Stage Ⅲ(P<0.05). In the esophageal cancer group, both of serum Alu115 and Alu247/115 index had no correlation with CEA or SCC (all P>0.05). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of Alu115 and Alu247/115 index were 0.867 and 0.854, respectively, which were both higher than that of CEA (0.622) and SCC (0.753). The addition of Alu115 or Alu247/115 index to CEA and SCC detection increased the sensitivity of the diagnosis of esophageal cancer by 95.6% and 94.1%, respectively. Conclusions The detection of serum cfDNA concentration and integrity is helpful to the early diagnosis and monitoring of esophageal cancer. Their diagnostic value of esophageal cancer is better than that of the traditional tumor markers CEA and SCC.

Objective To investigate the clinical value of circulating miR-125b-5p in coronary atherosclerotic heart disease.Methods With case-control study,80 cases of coronary atherosclerotic heart disease were recruited in Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University from February 2014 to august 2015.According to coronary angiography result they were divided into two groups: there are coronary artery stenosis group(n=49)and control group(n=31).All patients were also divided into non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction group(n=35),unstable angina group group(n=25),stable angina group(n=20).The level of miR-125b-5p before coronary angiograph was detected.By independent sample t test and variance analysis,the levels of miR-125b-5p were compared between the groups of coronary artery stenosis and the group with no stenosis of the coronary artery,the coronary artery lesions in each group,and between the various types of coronary atherosclerotic heart disease respectively.Results MiR-125b-5p expression level of Coronary artery stenosis group(0.35±0.10)was lower than that in group coronary artery with no stenosis(0.95±0.12),the difference was statistically significant(t=24.179,P<0.000 1).With the increase in the number of diseased coronary arteries,miR-125b-5p expression level decreased gradually.There is also statistical significance(t=8.399,P<0.000 1; t=13.067,P<0.000 1)in miR-125b-5p expression among NSTEMI+STEMI,UA and SAP groups.miR-125b-5p expression level was negatively correlated with Gensini score(R2=0.822,P<0.05).The area under the ROC curve(AUC)of miR-125b-5p was 0.86(95％CI 0.67-0.90),and 0.66 was the optimal cut-off value with sensitivity of 81.22％and specificity of 78.62％.Conclusions With the increase of the number of stenosis,plasma miR-125b-5p expression level decreased gradually.The expression level of miR-125b-5p was negatively correlated with the Gensini score of coronary artery,which indicated that the expression level of miR-125b-5p may be a potential biomarker that can reflect the lesion degree of coronary artery.

Long non-coding RNAs are a novel class of non-protein coding RNA molecules with more than 200 nucleotides in length.Recently, mounting evidence has been demonstrated that lncRNAs play crucial roles in epigenetic modification and gene expression regulation. This review aims to summarize current knowledge of lncRNAs in the carcinogenesis, clinical diagnosis, drug resistance and prognosis prediction of gastric cancer.

Exosomes are small (30 -100 nm) membrane vesicles secreted by various cell types , they mediate cell-to-cell communication by transferring mRNAs , miRNAs, and proteins.As a hotspot in the research of oncology , exosomes have potential values in the research of development , diagnosis and treatment of cancer. This paper briefly reviews the relationship between breast cancer microenvironment , drug resistance and exosomes and its progress in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment , in order to propose new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies .

Objective To explore the role of miR-202 in multiple myeloma (MM) cells,and study the regulation of miR-202 on drug sensitivity of MM cells.Methods miR-202 and BAFF mRNA levels were detected by real-time PCR.U266 cells were transfected with miR-202-mimics,miR-202-inhibitor,siBAFF and their negative controls.After above treatments,protein levels of Bcl-2 family and MAPK signaling pathway were detected by Western blot analysis,and the proliferation and apoptosis ability of MM cells were examined by WST-1,Annexin Ⅴ-FLUOS assay,respectively.Results The results showed that the expression ofmiR-202 in CD138+ MM cells (0.304±0.354) and U266 cells (0.052± 0.009) were lower than in normal controls (3.550± 1.126) (P＜0.001,P=0.009),whereas BAFF mRNA levels (5.700±0.734,9.576±2.887) were higher than in normal controls (1.819±0.853) (P＜0.001,P=0.006).The proliferation ability of U266 cells transfected with miR-202 mimics was significantly inhibited than in control group [(56.04±0.021)％ vs (18.89±0.32)％,P=0.002].The result of Western blot showed that the expression of Bcl-2 decreased by about 24％,and the expression of Bax increased by about 124％ in cells transfected with miR-202 mimics.The apoptosis rate in cells transfected with miR-202 mimics was significantly more than in control group [(49.60±4.89)％ vs (26.20±1.28)％,P=0.029].The apoptosis rate in miR-202 mimics combined with Bort group (51.23±5.41)％ was higher as compared with Bort treatment alone (31.70±4.40) ％ or miR-202 mimics control combined with Bort group (27.94±4.04) ％,(P=0.047,P=0.028),whereas the apoptosis rate in miR-202 mimics combined with Thal or Dex had no significant difference compared with miR-202 mimics control [(11.66±1.91)％ vs (10.63±1.74)％,P=0.700;(16.35± 1.32)％ vs (17.43 ± 1.95)％,P=0.400].The inhibitory rate of cell growth in miR-202 mimics combined with Bort group was higher as compared with Bort treatment alone [(36.93±5.98)％ vs (18.18±4.10)％,P=0.029].The expressions of p-JNK protein decreased in U266 cells transfected with miR-202 mimics and treated with Bort.Conclusion miR-202 mimics combined with Bort could inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis of U266 cells through negative regulating target gene BAFF,which further inhibited the JNK/ SAPK signaling pathway.

Objective To explore the expression level of serum miR135a?5p and its diagnostic value in colorectal cancer ( CRC) . Methods Serum samples were randomly collected from 60 primary CRC patients, 40 patients with intestinal polyps and 50 healthy controls, and the serum concentrations of miR135a?5p, CEA and CA199 were detected. The relationships between serum miR135a?5p level and clinicopathological parameters were analyzed by Mann?Whitney U test. The correlation of serum miR135a?5p level and serum concentrations of CEA or CA199 was analyzed by Pearson ’ s correlation test. Receiver operating characteristic ( ROC) curves and area under the curve ( AUC) were used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of miR135a?5p, CEA and CA199 as diagnostic indicators. Results The serum level of miR135a?5p in CRC patient was 2.451 (1.107, 4.413), significantly higher than 0.946 (0.401, 1.942) in the patients with intestinal polyps and 0. 949 ( 0. 194, 1. 415) in the healthy controls ( U = 351. 0 and U = 313. 0, respectively, P<0. 001 ) . The serum level of miR135a?5p in CRC patients was associated with both histological differentiation and clinical stage (P<0.05 for both), however, not correlated with the serum concentration of CEA (r2= 0.023, P = 0.293) or CA199 (r2= 0.067,P = 0.068). The AUC of serum miR135a?5p level in CRC patients was 0.832 (0.730-0.930) when compared to the patients with intestinal polyps and was 0.875 (0.800-0.950) when compared with the healthy controls. Conclusions The serum level of miR135a?5p in CRC patients is significantly higher than that in patients with intestinal polyps and healthy controls, and might be an important diagnostic marker of CRC.