Abstract. Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer-associated mortality in the United States. AXL, which is a member of the receptor tyrosine kinases, has been established as a strong candidate for the targeted therapy of cancer. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the role of AXL in NSCLC; in particular the molecular mechanisms underlying the involvement of AXL in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blot analysis demonstrated that AXL, EMT-inducing Twist and the mesenchymal marker N-cadherin were upregulated, and the epithelial markers E-cadherin and β-cadherin were downregulated, in the PC9 NSCLC cell line. Furthermore, downregulation of AXL expression by RNA interference was shown to inhibit cell growth by inducing the apoptosis of PC9 cells, as demonstrated by MTT and flow cytometry analyses. Notably, inhibition of AXL attenuated the regulation of EMT-associated genes, specifically downregulating Twist and N-cadherin, and upregulating E-cadherin and β-cadherin. Conversely, downregulation of Twist did not affect the expression levels of AXL. These results suggested that AXL may inhibit the EMT by the regulation of EMT-associated genes in the PC9 cell line. The results of the present study indicated that AXL may have a role in the regulation of EMT and the cell cycle of the PC9 cells; thus suggesting that AXL may have clinical significance in the design of therapeutic strategies targeting NSCLC and EMT signaling pathways.

To investigate the impacts of gene variations on survival outcomes of advanced gastric cancer (AGC) patients treated with 5‑fluorouracil (5-FU)-based chemotherapy, we analyzed the associations of 2 indels of the TS gene rs34743033 (double or triple tandem repeats of a 28 bp sequence in 5'-UTR, denoted as 2R or 3R allele) and rs16430 (a 6 bp variation at 1494 bp in 3'-UTR, denoted as ins6 or del6 allele) and 2 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of ABCB1gene rs2032582 in exon 21 and rs1045642 in exon 26, with clinical outcomes after 5‑FU treatment. Generally, indels rs34743033 and rs16430 were genotyped by PCR and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis assay and SNPs rs2032582 and rs1045642 were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay in 110 Chinese AGC patients post-chemotherapy. Cox regression analysis was used to analyze the risk factors affecting patient survival. As a result, rs34743033, rs1045642 and rs2032582 were shown to be significantly associated with overall survival (P < 0.05), and associations between the four polymorphisms with disease-free survival were also observed (P < 0.05). Moreover, we found that genotypes rs34743033 3R/2R, rs16430 ins6/del6, rs1045642 CC or CT, and rs2032582 GG were beneficial predictors of clinical treatment outcome in AGC patients, suggesting some clinical implications in chemotherapy of a Chinese population.

Inflammation represents an important event which facilitates prostate carcinogenesis. Genetic variations in inflammatory response genes could affect the level and function of the protein products, resulting in the differential prostate cancer risk among carriers of different variants. This study attempted to investigate the association of IL-4 rs2243250, IL-6 rs10499563, IL-8 rs4073, as well as NFKBIA rs2233406 and rs3138053 polymorphisms with prostate cancer risk in the Chinese population. Genotyping of the polymorphisms was performed by using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism technique on 439 prostate cancer patients and 524 controls, and the association of each polymorphic genotype with prostate cancer risk was evaluated by using logistic regression analysis based on allele, heterozygous, and homozygous comparison models, with adjustment to age and smoking status. We showed that the C allele of IL-4 rs2243250 polymorphism could increase prostate cancer risk (heterozygous comparison model: odds ratio [OR] =1.434, 95% confidence interval [CI] =1.092–1.881, P=0.009; homozygous comparison model: OR =2.301, 95% CI =1.402–3.775, P=0.001; allele comparison model: OR =1.509, 95% CI =1.228–1.853, P<0.001). On the other hand, the C allele of rs10499563 polymorphism could decrease prostate cancer risk (heterozygous comparison model: OR =0.694, 95% CI =0.525–0.918, P=0.010; homozygous comparison model: OR =0.499, 95% CI =0.269–0.926, P=0.028; allele comparison model: OR =0.692, 95% CI =0.553–0.867, P=0.001). No association was observed for the other polymorphisms. In conclusion, IL-4 rs2243250 and IL-6 rs10499563 polymorphisms could serve as potential predictive biomarkers for prostate cancer risk in the Chinese population.