BackgroundMLL2 has been identified as one of the most frequently mutated genes in a variety of cancers including esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). However, its clinical significance and prognostic value in ESCC has not been elucidated. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the expression and role of MLL2 in ESCC.MethodsImmunohistochemistry (IHC) and qRT-PCR were used to examine the expression profile of MLL2. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis and univariate and multivariate Cox analyses were used to investigate the clinical and prognostic significance of MLL2 expression in Kazakh ESCC patients. Furthermore, to evaluate the biological function of MLL2 in ESCC, we applied the latest gene editing technique CRISPR/Cas9 to knockout MLL2 in ESCC cell line Eca109. MTT, colony formation, flow cytometry, scratch wound-healing and transwell migration assays were performed to investigate the effect of MLL2 on ESCC cell proliferation and migration. The correlation between MLL2 and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) was investigated by Western blot assay in vitro and IHC in ESCC tissue, respectively.ResultsBoth mRNA and protein expression levels of MLL2 were significantly overexpressed in ESCC patients. High expression of MLL2 was significantly correlated with TNM stage (P = 0.037), tumor differentiation (P = 0.032) and tumor size (P = 0.035). Kaplan–Meier survival analysis showed that patients with low MLL2 expression had a better overall survival than those with high MLL2 expression. Multivariate Cox analysis revealed that lymph node metastasis and tumor differentiation were independent prognostic factors. Knockout of MLL2 in Eca109 inhibited cell proliferation and migration ability, induced cell cycle arrest at G1 stage, but it had no significant effect on apoptosis. In addition, knockout of MLL2 could inhibit EMT by up-regulation of E-Cadherin and Smad7 as well as down-regulation of Vimentin and p-Smad2/3 in ESCC cells. In cancer tissues, the expression of E-Cadherin was negatively correlated with MLL2 expression while Vimentin expression was positively correlated with MLL2 expression.ConclusionOur results indicate that overexpression of MLL2 predicts poor clinical outcomes and facilitates ESCC tumor progression, and it may exert oncogenic role via activation of EMT. MLL2 may be used as a novel prognostic factor and therapeutic target for ESCC patients.

The aim of this study was to examine TP53 gene deletion in esophageal cancer (EC) tissues obtained from patients and to evaluate its clinical significance. Forty surgical specimens from patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were examined for TP53 gene deletion using the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique. Thirty-two male and 8 female patients were enrolled, with an average age of 56 years. TP53 gene deletion was significantly higher in poorly-differentiated EC cases compared to well-differentiated cases (P=0.028). The TP53 gene deletion rate was also significantly higher in the group with lymph node metastasis compared to the group without lymph node metastasis (P=0.0313). The TP53 gene deletion rate was shown to be correlated with the level of differentiation and lymph node metastasis in EC; it may therefore be an important molecular marker for evaluating the condition of EC in patients.

Abstract. This study was conducted to investigate the mutation status of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and its association with clinical characteristics and tumor markers in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in China. We enrolled 51 cases of NSCLC patients who received radical surgical treatment in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction was applied to detect exons 18, 19, 20 and 21 of the EGFR gene in tumor tissues. Multiple tumor markers, including carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), were assessed preoperatively. The EGFR-positive rate was 49.02% (25/51), with a mutation rate of 8% (2/25) in exon 18, 52% (13/51) in exon 19, 40% (10/51) in exon 21 and no mutations in exon 20. The positive mutation rate in men and women was 37.5% (12/32) and 68.42%, respectively (13/19), with a statistically significantly higher rate in women (P<0.05). There were also statistically significant differences among adenocarcinoma, adenosquamous carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma cases (P<0.05), while no statistically significant differences were observed in adenocarcinoma cases regarding degree of differentiation, lymph node metastasis and TNM stage (P>0.05). There was a statistically significant association between the EGFR gene mutation status and the preoperative serum CEA level (P<0.05). The mutation rate of the EGFR gene was 68.42% in female lung adenocarcinoma patients, which supports the application of targeted therapy in such cases. However, whether it is possible to obtain information regarding targeted therapy through measuring the level of serum CEA for NSCLC patients with unknown EGFR mutation status requires further investigation through related studies including a higher number of cases. IntroductionLung cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in humans, with an equally high incidence in men and in women. Approximately 80% of lung cancer cases are non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (1). The majority of the patients present with advanced-stage lung cancer at diagnosis, when radical excision is no longer feasible (2) and the remaining treatment options include radiotherapy, chemotherapy and immune therapy. The rate of response to radiotherapy and chemotherapy is only 15-35%, which may not effectively improve the survival rate and life quality of the patients. Therefore, the total 5-year survival rate of lung cancer patients is only ~15% (2-4).Over the last few years, genetic testing and targeted therapy based on epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutation status has attracted significant attention. Multiple clinical studies indicated that tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have effectively extended the survival time and improved the life quality of NSCLC patients (5), with a total effectiveness rate of >70%. However, the effectiveness rate of TKI treatment for wild-type EGFR cancers is only 10-15% (6). Therefore, it is crucial to determine the mutation status of the EGFR gene in NSC...

The aim of the present study was to investigate the clinical application of molecular pathological diagnosis for the prognosis of Kazakh patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) using centromere enumeration probes (CEPs) for chromosomes 3 and 17. A total of 40 patients with ESCC that had received radical surgical treatment and 10 healthy control participants were enrolled in the present study. Touch preparations of fresh cancerous and normal tissues were completed and fluorescence hybridization (FISH) was performed to count the copy numbers of CEP 3 and 17, and abnormalities were analyzed, in comparison with routine pathological diagnoses. FISH analysis demonstrated that abnormal copy numbers of CEP 3 and 17 (aneuploidy) were detected in all 40 patients with ESCC. CEP 3 and 17 polyploidy rates differed significantly between poorly differentiated, moderately differentiated and well-differentiated ESCC groups (P<0.05): Well-differentiated, 35.38 and 30.92%; moderately differentiated, 55.81 and 44.43%; and poorly differentiated, 76.26 and 71.90%, respectively. Furthermore, polyploidy rates were significantly increased in the group with lymph node metastasis, as compared with the group without (CEP 3, P=0.0001; CEP 17, P=0.012). Variations in the copy numbers of CEP 3 and 17 were demonstrated to be correlated with the level of differentiation and lymph node metastasis in patients with ESCC. Therefore, the present results indicate that DNA probes may be used to predict prognostic factors in patients with ESCC. Furthermore, FISH technology is an objective and qualitative method that is capable of detecting variations in CEP 3 and 17; therefore, FISH may be used in the genetic diagnosis of ESCC in Kazakh patients.