Osteosarcoma (OS) is one of the most prevalent malignant cancers with lower survival and poor overall prognosis mainly in children and adolescents. Identifying the molecular mechanisms and OS stem cells (OSCs) as new concepts involved in disease pathogenesis and progression may potentially lead to new therapeutic targets. Therefore, therapeutic targeting of OSCs can be one of the most important and effective strategies for the treatment of OS. This review describes the new molecular targets of OS as well as novel therapeutic approaches in the design of future investigations and treatment.

miRNA-145 and 9 may be as potential prognostic marker in patients suffering from cervical cancer.

The investigation of specific genes will establish more useful biomarkers for accurate detection and management of gynecological cancers, especially patients with cervical cancer (CCP). The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression level of RIPK4 and EZH2 messenger RNA (RIPK4 and EZH2 mRNA) in CCP. Expression of RIPK4 and EZH2 in the tissues was determined by immunohistochemistry and qRT-PCR methods. Correlations of RIPK4 and EZH2 mRNA with clinical and pathological parameters were analyzed using the Fisher's exact test. The mRNA level of RIPK4 was significantly upregulated in tumor tissues compared with matched adjacent normal tissues (4.10 ± 0.89 vs. 1.5 ± 0.82; p = 0.021). EZH2 mRNA was increased in cancer tissues compared to normal tissues (3.54 ± 0.71 vs. 1.2 ± 0.65; p = 0.003). High expression of RIPK4 was observed in 25 patients (64.1%), whereas weak expression was seen in 14 cases (35.9%). Furthermore, the expression of RIPK4 was overexpressed in matched adjacent normal tissues (p = 0.004). FIGO stage and lymph node metastasis were significantly linked to a higher expression of RIPK4 (p < 0.05). Overexpression of EZH2 was found in 30 patients (76.9%) and was associated with FIGO stage, histological type, and lymph node metastasis (p < 0.05). In conclusion, our data suggest that RIPK4/EZH2 markers might be used as potential predictors of prognosis in cervical cancer.

Current evidences indicated that a group of soluble mediators called chemokines is involved in tumor growth and metastasis. The association of IL-8 with tumor cell migration was previously found, and its expression was related to angiogenesis, tumor progression, and metastasis in many kinds of carcinomas in human and animal models. Furthermore, it has been showed that IL-17 plays its role as either a proteome of tumor progression or antitumor indifferent cancer models. To investigate the messenger RNA (mRNA) expressions of IL-8 and IL-17 in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) and non-tumor tissue, quantitative real-time PCR was used in the study. Our results showed that expression of IL-8 mRNA was significantly increased in tumor tissues (mean ± SD 3.84 ± 0.08) compared with adjacent normal mucosa (mean ± SD 1.17 ± 0.75, P = 0.001). Furthermore, a higher expression of IL-17 mRNA was found in tumor tissues (mean ± SD 2.73 ± 0.69) when compared with normal tissues (mean ± SD 1.06 ± 0.07, P = 0.001). Our findings indicated that advanced tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage (P = 0.024) and histological grade (poorly differentiated, P = 0.013) and distant metastasis (P = 0.001) were correlated with expression of IL-8. Moreover, high expression of IL-17 showed significant association with early stage CRC (TNM) (P = 0.038). In conclusion, the expression of IL-8 and IL-17 mRNAs was significantly increased in tumor tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues. We found that advanced TNM stage and histological grade and distant metastasis were correlated with expression of IL-8, while high expression of IL-17 showed significant association with early stage CRC (TNM) stage and overexpression of IL-8 may be associated with progression of CRC.

IntroductionThe aim of this study was to facilitate and deepen the understanding of the associations of the clinical significance of PLA2G16 and CDH11 in patients with osteosarcoma.Material and methodsWe collected 50 paired osteosarcoma tissues and adjacent normal bone tissues and evaluated the expression of PLA2G16 and CDH11 by quantitavise reverse transcriptase real-time polymerase chain reaction.ResultsPLA2G16 expression was upregulated in osteosarcoma tissues when compared with adjacent normal bone tissues, and the difference was statistically significant (4.78 ±0.70 vs. 1.31 ±0.65; p < 0.05). Our data indicated that high expression of PLA2G16 was significantly related to advanced TNM stage and metastasis or recurrence (p < 0.05). The expression level of CDH11 was lower in osteosarcoma tissues (median relative expression level ± SD: 6.29 ±1.43) than adjacent normal bone tissues (mean ± SD: 13.72 ±3.08, p < 0.05). Our findings demonstrated that decreased expression of CDH11 was strongly linked to advanced TNM stage, and metastasis or recurrence (p < 0.05). Log-rank analysis showed that patients with high expression of PLA2G16 have shorter overall survival than those with low expression. Moreover, shorter overall survival was significantly correlated with decreased expression of CDH11. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis showed that PLA2G16 (p = 0.028; HR = 2.621; 95% CI) and CDH11 (p = 0.023; HR = 2.81; 95% CI) expression and also metastasis or recurrence (p = 0.03; HR = 2.531; 95% CI) were independent prognostic factors for poor overall survival of osteosarcoma patients.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that PLA2G16 and CDH11 expression can be independent prognostic factors for poor overall survival of patients with osteosarcoma.