Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are attracting more and more attention from researchers because they are relatively new factors in regulating biological processes in human cancers. The Colorectal Neoplasia Differentially Expressed (CRNDE) lncRNA is transcribed from chromosome 16 on the opposite strand to the neighboring IRX5 gene. It was originally discovered abnormally expressed in colorectal cancer (CRC) and was certified a critical biomarker in many cancers. However, its biological function and mechanism underlying the tumorigenesis of cervical cancer still require exploration. This study confirmed that CRNDE is markedly up-regulated in clinical tissues and cell lines of cervical cancer. The high expression of CRNDE positively correlates with advanced FIGO stage and lymph node metastasis. Furthermore, the overall survival rate in the group with highly expressed CRNDE was worse, and the high level of CRNDE may be regarded a prognostic factor because of its results from proportional hazard analysis. Loss-of-function assays revealed that CRNDE influences proliferation and apoptosis in cervical cancer cells, and Western blot assays revealed that the PI3K/AKT pathway was inactivated in response to CRNDE knockdown. Therefore, we conclude that CRNDE exerts oncogenic function in cervical cancer and should be further explored as a novel prognostic predictor.

The up-regulation of ALCAM expression during endometrial carcinogenesis and the correlations of ALCAM expression with grade and myometrial invasion suggest its potential role as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker.

Extrarenal Wilms' Tumors (ERWTs) are rare. There have been only 25 cases of ERWT arising from the female genital system reported in the literature. In this paper, we report a 60-year-old woman with a complaint of vaginal bleeding and a polypoid mass in the uterine cavity by sonography that was demonstrated as ERWT by pathology after resection. The pathological characteristics, histological origination, diagnosis, therapy and prognosis of ERWT in female reproductive system are discussed in this paper in the purpose of improving the diagnosis and therapy of this rare tumor.

Sex-determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2) is an oncogene known to be amplified and overexpressed in various human malignancies, including lung squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). However, the role played by SOX2 in lung SCC development remains to be elucidated. We measured the levels of SOX2 and cyclin D1 mRNA and protein expression in lung SCC tissues and a lung SCC cell line, and found that both levels were dramatically upregulated in specimens of lung SCC tissue when compared with their expression levels in samples of adjacent nonneoplastic tissue. The lung SCC cell line also showed higher levels of SOX2 and cyclin D1 expression than a normal human bronchial epithelium cell line. After using RNA interference to knock down SOX2 expression in NCI-H520 lung SCC cells, their proliferation was reduced. Furthermore, overexpression of SOX2 promoted the proliferation of normal human bronchial epithelium cells. To further determine whether cyclin D1 was downstream target gene of SOX2, we measured the levels of cyclin D1 expression that occurred when SOX2 was knocked down or overexpressed. SOX2 knockdown significantly decreased the levels of cyclin D1 mRNA and protein expression, while SOX2 overexpression upregulated the levels of cyclin D1. We used bioinformatics data to identify potential cyclin D1 promoter binding sites for SOX2. Results of luciferase reporter assays, electrophoretic mobility shift assays, and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays confirmed that cyclin D1 was a direct target of transcription factor SOX2 in human lung SCC cells.