Survivin has been shown to be an ideal target for cancer gene therapy because of its strong antiapoptotic effect. MicroRNA-34a (miR-34a) can function as a tumor suppressor in some cancers through negative regulation of gene expression. However, the relationship between miR-34a and survivin in larynx squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) has not been explored. The abundance of survivin mRNA and miR-34a in LSCC tissues were measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Their expression levels were analyzed and correlated with tumor differentiation, lymphatic metastasis, clinical stages, and survival rates. MiR-34a mimic was transfected using liposomes to increase its level in LSCC cancer cell line, Hep-2. The effects of miR-34a on survivin protein expression were tested using western blot analysis. Cell cycle analyses were performed using flow cytometry. The results showed that transfection of miR-34a mimic significantly suppressed cell proliferation with decreased survivin protein expression, but did not affect mRNA expression level. The results from LSCC tissue samples showed that miR-34a was downregulated, while survivin expression was upregulated. The miR-34a levels were negatively correlated with histologic differentiation and were positively correlated with survival rate. MiR-34a significantly suppressed cell proliferation by arresting cells at G0/G1 phase in Hep-2 cells. These results indicated that miR-34a may affect the occurrence of LSCC by targeting survivin.

MicroRNA-519a may function as a tumour suppressor by inhibiting HuR expression, and may serve as a therapeutic target for laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

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The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the morphological characteristics of the sphenoid sinus and endoscopic localization of the cavernous sinus (CS) using an extended endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal approach. Thirty sides of CS in 15 adult cadaver heads were dissected to simulate the extended endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal approach, and the morphology of the sphenoid sinus and anatomic structures of CS were observed. The opticocarotid recess (OCR), ophthalmomaxillary recess (V1V2R), and maxillomandibular recess (V2V3R) in the lateral wall of the sphenoid sinus were presented in 16 sides (53.3%), 6 sides (20%), and 4 sides (13.3%) of the 30 sides, respectively. OCR is a constant anatomic landmark in endoscopy and coincides with the anterior portion of the clinoidal triangle. The C-shaped internal carotid artery (ICA) in the lateral wall of the sphenoid sinus was presented in 11 sides (36.7%), the upper one-third of which corresponds to the middle portion of the clinoidal triangle, and the lower two-thirds of which correlates to the supratrochlear triangle, infratrochlear triangle, and ophthalmic nerve in CS, around which the medial, lateral, and anteroinferior interspaces are distributed. From a front-to-behind perspective, the C-shaped ICA consists of inferior horizontal segment, anterior vertical segment, clinoidal segment as well as partial subarachnoid segment of the ICA. OCR and C-shaped ICA in the lateral wall of the sphenoid sinus are the 2 reliable anatomic landmarks in the intraoperative location of the parasellar region of CS.

Pyroptosis, a pro-inflammatory form of programmed cell death, is associated with carcinogenesis and progression. However, there is little information concerning pyroptosis-related genes (PRGs) in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). Herein, we aim to explore the prognostic value of PRGs in LSCC. The expression and clinical data of 47 PRGs in LSCC patients were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas. A novel prognostic PRG signature was constructed using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator analysis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were drawn, and Kaplan-Meier survival Cox proportional hazard regression analyses were performed to measure the predictive capacity of the PRG signature. Furthermore, we constructed a six-PRG signature to divide LSCC patients into high- and low-risk groups. Patients in the high-risk group had worse overall survival than the low-risk group. The area under the time-dependent ROC curve was 0.696 for 1 year, 0.784 for 3 years, and 0.738 for 5 years. We proved that the PRGs signature was an independent predictor for LSCC. Functional enrichment analysis indicated that several immune-related pathways were significantly enriched in the low-risk group. Consistent with this, patients with low-risk scores had higher immune scores and better immunotherapeutic responses than the high-risk group. In conclusion, we established a novel PRGs signature that can predict outcome and response to immunotherapy of LSCC, pyroptosis may be a potential target for LSCC.