YWHAZ has been suggested to as an oncogene in various human malignancies, including non‐small–cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Our study presents more evidence to confirm the clinical significance and biological function of YWHAZ in NSCLC. In our results, YWHAZ was upregulated in lung squamous cell carcinoma tissues and lung adenocarcinoma tissues through analyzing The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, and confirmed high levels of YWHAZ messenger RNA and protein in lung squamous cell carcinoma tissues and lung adenocarcinoma tissues through quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry. Moreover, YWHAZ overexpression was correlated with advanced clinical stage, more lymph node metastasis and present distant metastasis in NSCLC patients. Survival analysis indicated that high level of YWHAZ protein expression was associated with short overall survival time in NSCLC patients, and YWHAZ expression was independent prognostic factors for overall survival in NSCLC patients. Moreover, Silencing of YWHAZ expression represses NSCLC cell migration and invasion. In conclusion, YWHAZ is a credible prognostic biomarker, and may be a therapeutic target in NSCLC.

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Background Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common disease that seriously affects human health and daily life. However, the gold standard for its diagnosis, polysomnography (PSG), is expensive resulting in inadequate diagnosis of this disease in primary clinics. Therefore, a simple and rapid method for initial screening for OSA is needed. Acoustic pharyngometry (APh) is an FDA-approved noninvasive method that is gradually being applied to screening for OSA. Materials And Methods In this study, we applied analysis with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to explore how APh may play a greater role in the screening of subjects with suspected OSA. Patients admitted into the departments of otolaryngology at our hospital from March 2017 to May 2019 were recruited into the study. All subjects underwent PSG monitor and were separated into two groups according to the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) from the PSG results: OSA group (AHI ≥ 5) and control group (AHI < 5). APh measurements and other indicators of the subjects, including age, height, and weight; Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) score; and the pharynx examination, including the degree of tonsil enlargement and tongue hypertrophy, were also be recorded. Results The t-test results showed that almost all indicators except age and height have significant differences between the OSA group and control group. Subjects with OSA had greater weight, BMI, ESS, higher degree of tonsil enlargement, and tongue hypertrophy, while they had smaller minimal cross-sectional area (mCSA) and pharyngeal volume than the subjects in control group. The correlation analysis revealed that pharyngeal volume and mCSA were two helpful indicators to screen for OSA. Furthermore, we established the ROC curve and calculated the combining predictors (combining predictors = pharyngeal volume + mCSA * (− 2.347)/(− 0.225)). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of combining predictors was 0.917 (95% CI 0.842–0.991, P < 0.001), which was higher than combinations of other two independent indicators. The cutoff point of combining predictors was found to be 59.84 (AUC = 0.917, sensitivity = 0.80, 1-specificity = 0.06, P < 0.001). Conclusions These findings suggest that APh is a simple, rapid, and economical detection method which may be useful in screening for OSA, especially in communities and primary clinics where PSG cannot be performed.

Objective Bariatric surgery (BS) is considered one of the most effective treatments for obese individuals with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). However, otolaryngologists have raised concerns about the structural alterations caused by BS on the upper respiratory tract, especially, on the pharyngeal cavity. Methods In this study, we recruited 42 individuals who underwent BS at our hospital. They were divided into two groups based on apnea–hypopnea index (AHI): mild group (5 ≤ AHI < 15) and moderate-severe group (AHI ≥ 15). The participants were followed up for 12 months and several indicators, including body mass index (BMI), polysomnography (PSG), and acoustic pharyngometry (APh), were assessed repeatedly before surgery and at 3, 6, and 12 months (m) after surgery. Results Participants exhibited significant decreases in BMI (F = 128.1, P = 0.001) and total weight loss (F = 176.7, P < 0.001) after BS. The AHI value among obese patients with mild OSA decreased significantly within three months after surgery (0 day vs. 3 months, P < 0.01), and decreased significantly more than 12 months with moderate-to-severe patients (0 day vs. 3 months, 3 months vs. 6 months, 6 months vs. 12 months, P < 0.01). The therapeutic effect of OSA of the mild group was significantly better compared with that of the moderate-severe group at 6 months (mean rank = 28.13 vs. 14.21, P < 0.001) and 12 m (mean rank = 26.75 vs. 15.52, P = 0.001). The APh results revealed that the pharyngeal volume of the two groups increased significantly between 0 day and 6 months after surgery (P < 0.01). The oropharyngeal junction (OPJ) area and the glottal area were increased significantly between 0 day and 6 m after surgery (P < 0.01). Conclusion BS can relieve apnea and OSA symptoms among obese patients with OSA, especially in the early postoperative period. Moreover, OSA severity was closely associated with OPJ and glottal areas, rather than pharyngeal cavity volume.

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