Background The overall survival of patients  with pancreatic cancer is extremely low. Despite multiple large-scale studies, identification of predictors of patient survival remains challenging. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic factors for pancreatic cancer. Methods The clinical data of 625 patients with pancreatic cancer treated at Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University from January 2013 to December 2017 were collected. Results Of 625 patients, 569 were followed from 1 to 75 months. The median overall survival was 9.3 months. The overall 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were 37.8%, 15.1%, and 10.5%, respectively. Cox proportional hazards model indicated that baseline carbohydrate antigen 199 level, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio, operative procedure, lymph node metastasis, number of distant organ metastasis, and postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy were independent prognostic factors of patients with pancreatic cancer. Baseline carbohydrate antigen 199 level, degree of weight loss, operative procedure, lymph node metastasis, number of distant organ metastasis, and postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy were independent prognostic factors of pancreatic head cancer subgroup. Baseline carbohydrate antigen 199 level, carcinoembryonic antigen level, total bilirubin level, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio, peripancreatic invasion, number of distant organ metastasis, and postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy were independent prognostic factors of the pancreatic body/tail cancer subgroup. Conclusions Higher carbohydrate antigen 199 levels, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio, lymph node metastasis and distant organ metastasis predict a poor prognosis in patients with pancreatic cancer. Early detection, early radical surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy are needed to improve prognosis for this deadly disease.

Stress is considered to be the inducer of microspore embyogenesis (ME), and heat stress is indispensible in the ME of sweet pepper. The aim of the study was to explore differentially expressed genes of microspore embryogenesis under heat stress in sweet pepper. The swollen rate of microspore was significantly affected by heat stress, while no green plant could be acquired without heat pretreatment. Anthers with or without heat stress were used for whole transcriptome analysis by RNA sequencing to provide new insights on how cells adapt to stress. A total of 5031 differentially expressed genes were identified, among which 2657 differentially expressed genes were up-regulated and 2374 differentially expressed genes were down-regulated in the early stage of heat stress. KEGG pathway analysis identified "plant hormone signal transduction" (67; 11.20%), followed by starch and sucrose metabolism (63; 10.54%). RNA-Seq data and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction showed that 224 genes related to glutathione metabolism, starch and sucrose metabolism, plant hormone signal transduction and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis were the most likely specific genes in ME under heat stress. This research provides new insights into molecular regulation during the early stage of ME in sweet pepper under heat stress.