BACKGROUNDSerum levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) are associated with a variety of tumors.OBJECTIVEThis study evaluated the prognostic value of pretreatment serum CEA levels in predicting the outcomes of multiple tumors subjected to treatment.METHODSPrior to therapy, serum samples from 71 prostate, 46 breast, 77 gastric, and 31 pancreatic cancer patients were collected to examine serum CEA levels. The cutoff value for CEA was set as determined by the maximum Youden index. The data were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier curves generated by the log-rank test and Cox multivariate analysis.RESULTSThe overall survival rate for all the patients was 71.11%. The 3-year survival rate of patients with prostate, breast, gastric, and pancreatic cancers was 81.69%, 95.65%, 54.55%, and 51.61%, respectively. The 3-year survival rate showed significant statistical differences between patients with serum CEA levels <2.885 µg/L and those with serum CEA levels ⩾2.885 µg/L (P < .001). The statistical differences of the 3-year survival rate also existed in the men (P = .010) or women group (P < .001), as well as in the 3 different types of cancer, which include breast cancer (P = .025), gastric cancer (P = .001), and pancreatic cancer (P = .047).CONCLUSIONSSerum CEA levels can provide additional prognostic information and may be useful in treatment implementation for patients with breast, gastric, or pancreatic cancer.

Papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC) is a common renal cell carcinoma. Recent studies have reported that ferroptosis is involved in the occurrence and development of tumors. Long non-coding RNAs can be used as independent biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of a variety of tumors. Methods: Gene expression profile and clinical information of patients with PRCC were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Lasso penalized Cox regression and univariate Cox regression analysis were utilized for model construction. The Kaplan-Meier (K-M) and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to validate the predictive effect of the prognostic signature. Immune cell infiltration and immune function were compared between the high-risk and low-risk groups. Chemotherapy sensitivity analysis was also performed. Results: We constructed a prognostic signature consisting of 15 ferroptosis-related lncRNAs. The K-M curves validated the fine predictive accuracy of the prognostic signature (p < 0.001). The area under the curve (AUC) of the lncRNA signature was 0.930, exhibiting robust prognostic capacity. The high-risk group had a greater degree of immune cell infiltration than the low-risk group. Significant differences in inflammation promotion, parainflammation, and type I IFN response were noted between the low-risk and high-risk groups (p < 0.01). The expression levels of immune checkpoints including CD80, IDO1, and LAG3 were significantly higher in the high-risk group than in the low-risk group (p < 0.05). Chemotherapy sensitivity analysis showed that MNX1-AS1, ZFAS1, MIR4435-2HG, and ADAMTS9-AS1 were significantly correlated with the sensitivity of some chemotherapy drugs (p < 0.05). Conclusion:We demonstrated that a ferroptosis-related lncRNA prognostic signature could be a novel biomarker for PRCC.

Background MHR is the ratio of monocyte to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). It has been reported that MHR changes are associated with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. Carotid plaque is a common vascular lesion of the carotid artery and is a manifestation of atherogenesis. This study investigated the relationships between the MHR and the incidence of carotid plaques. Methods The data of 3848 physical examiners were analyzed for retrospective analysis, which included 1428 patients with noncarotid plaque, 1133 patients with single carotid plaque, and 1287 patients with bilateral or multiple carotid plaques. Statistical analysis was performed on SPSS 22.0 0 software and statistical software R and its GAM package. Results The difference was statistically significant in the levels of MHR, body mass index (BMI), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), blood lipids (HDL-C, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (Tg)), blood glucose (Glu), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), renal function (urea, creatinine (Crea)), estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and uric acid (Ua) in the carotid plaque groups (P < 0.001, respectively). There was no significant difference between the sex (P = 0.635) and age (P = 0.063) in the different groups. MHR levels were positively correlated with BMI (r = 0.364, P < 0.001), hs-CRP (r = 0.320, P < 0.001), Tg (r = 0.417, P < 0.001), Crea (r = 0.323, P < 0.001), eGFR (r = − 0.248, P < 0.001), Ua (r = 0.383, P < 0.001) and HbA1c (r = 0.197, P < 0.001). Levels of TC, Glu, and urea were slightly correlated with the MHR level (r = − 0.150, P < 0.001; r = 0.187, P < 0.001; r = 0.137, P < 0.001, respectively). The MHR level increased with elevated severity of carotid plaque in subjects without hypertension or diabetes (P < 0.001). In adjusted models, with the rise of MHR level, the probability of occurrence of carotid plaque had a 1.871-fold (95% CI: 1.015–3.450, P = 0.045) increase; the probability of multiple occurrences of carotid plaques had a 2.896-fold (95% CI: 1.415–5.928, P < 0.001) increase. The GAM curve showed a nonlinear correlation between the normalized MHR and the probability of carotid plaque occurrence. Conclusions MHR could be used as a possible marker for plaque formation and severity.

Purpose: To investigate serum leptin levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and the relationship between leptin levels and T2DM complications and prevalence.Methods: A total of 355 patients, 282 cases with T2DM and 73 normal controls, were recruited at 1st Medical Centre, Chinese PLA General Hospital (Beijing, China) between November 2013 and July 2014. Levels of serum leptin, biochemical markers and sexual hormones were measured, and clinical characteristics were retrieved through the electronic medical record system.Results: Leptin levels in females were higher than that in males. Leptin levels in T2MD patients were positively correlated with body mass index, percent body fat, triglyceride, cystatin C homocysteine and salivary acid, and negatively correlated with glycosylated serum protein and glycosylated albumin levels. Leptin levels in males were positively correlated with systolic pressure and estradiol, and negatively correlated with testosterone and high density lipoprotein cholesterol. Sex (female) was positively correlated with the duration of disease. Leptin levels in T2DM patients with complications such as hypertension, diabetic nephropathy, diabetic peripheral neuropathy and coronary heart disease were higher than that in patients without such complications. Leptin levels in females with diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macroangiopathy were higher than that in patients without such complications, but there was no difference in males.Conclusions: Leptin has significant gender differences. Leptin levels are related to body mass index, percent body fat and sex hormone level in T2DM patients and may affect short-term blood glucose control in T2DM patients. Leptin levels are related to complications in patients with T2DM and affect the prevalence rates of complications.

Background: Carotid plaque is a manifestation of carotid atherosclerosis,monocytes play a key role in atherosclerosis related inflammatory response ,high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) has vascular protective effects such as anti-inflammatory, antithrombotic and anti atherosclerosis. This study is to investigate the relationships of MHR level and the incidence of carotid artery plaque. Methods: Data of physical examination personnel in the first medical center of the General Hospital of PLA from January to April in 2018 was collected and 3848 subjects were included for retrospectively analysis. Statistical analysis was performed on Spss 22.0 0 software and statistical software R and its GAM package.Results: The difference was statistically significant in levels of MHR, body mass index (BMI), high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), blood lipids (HDL-C, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), total cholesterol(TC), triglyceride(Tg)), blood glucose(Glu), Hyperglycemic hemoglobin(HbA1c), renal function (Urea, creatinine(Crea), estimated glomerular filtration rate(eGFR), Uric acid (Ua)) in carotid plaque groups (p=0.000,respectively). No significant difference between the gender (p=0.635) and age(p=0.063) in different groups. MHR levels was positively correlated with levels of BMI (r = 0.364, P = 0.000), hs-CRP (r = 0.320, P =0.000), Tg (r = 0.417, P=0.000), Crea(r=0.323, P=0.000), eGFR(r=-0.248, P=0.000), Ua(r=0.383, P=0.000) and HbA1c (r=0.197, P=0.000). Levels of TC, Glu, Urea were slightly correlated with MHR level(r=-0.150, P=0.000; r=0.187, P=0.000; r=0.137, P=0.000; respectively ). In subjects with both hypertension and diabetes, MHR levels showed difference among three groups (p=0.009). MHR level increased with elevated site number of carotid plaque in subjects without hypertension or diabetes(p=0.000). MHR level still showed differences among carotid plaque groups in subjects with hypertension and diabetes. In adjusted models, the probability of occurrence of carotid plaque increased by1.958 (95% CI: 1.144-3.351, P = 0.000) times; The probability of multiple occurrence of carotid plaques increased by 2.068 (95% CI: 1.100-3.887, P = 0.000) times. The GAM curve showed a non-linear correlation between normalized MHR and the probability of carotid plaque occurrence. Conclusions: MHR could be used as an independent risk factor and indicator for plaque formation and severity.