Exosomal miRNAs are proposed as excellent candidate biomarkers for clinical applications. However, little is known about their potential roles as prognostic biomarkers in lung cancer. In this study, we explored the prognostic value of plasma exosomal microRNAs (miRNAs) for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Using a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) array panel, we analyzed 84 plasma exosomal miRNAs in 10 lung adenocarcinoma patients and 10 matched healthy controls. The qPCR array showed 30 aberrantly expressed exosomal miRNAs. Nine candidate miRNAs were selected based on differential expression and previous reports for further evaluating their prognostic roles in 196 NSCLC patients. Elevated levels of exosomal miR-23b-3p, miR-10b-5p and miR-21-5p were independently associated with poor overall survival (with hazard ratio [95% confidence interval]: 2.42 (1.45 - 4.04), P = 0.001; 2.22 (1.18 - 4.16), P = 0.013; 2.12 (1.28 - 3.49), P = 0.003, respectively). When compared to the clinical prognostic variables only model, adding the three exosomal miRNA signatures significantly improved survival predictive accuracy with an increase of time-dependent area under the receiver operating characteristic curve from 0.88 to 0.91 (P=0.015). Our results indicated that plasma exosomal miR-23b-3p, miR-10b-5p and miR-21-5p are promising non-invasive prognostic biomarkers of NSCLC.

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A high proportion of healthy males in Chongqing area of southwest China had abnormal semen parameters values according to WHO criteria. The semen parameters in the study population were markedly different from those reported for the other Chinese, USA and European populations. The differences remain unexplained and may be due to demographic characteristics, lifestyle, environmental factors or genetic variation.

In this hospital-based case-cohort study, we found that serum urea nitrogen, TBIL, LDH and AST/ALT ratio, several markers of extrapulmonary organ injuries, were positively correlated with death risk of COVID-19 patients. We provide evidence for the first time that multiple organ damage on admission influences the prognosis of COVID-19 patients. Early hospitalization is beneficial for elevating the survival rate of COVID-19 patients especially critical ill patients. AbstractBackground. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) triggered by infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been widely pandemic all over the world. The aim of this study was to analyze the influence factors of death risk among 200 COVID-19 patients. Methods. Two hundred patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection were recruited. Demographic data and clinical characteristics were collected from electronic medical records. Biochemical indexes on admission were measured and patient's prognosis was tracked. The association of demographic data, clinical characteristics and biochemical indexes with death risk was analyzed. Results. Of 200 COVID-19 patients, 163 (81.5%) had at least one of comorbidities, including diabetes, hypertension, hepatic disease, cardiac disease, chronic pulmonary disease and others. Among all patients, critical cases, defined as oxygenation index lower than 200, accounted for 26.2%. Severe cases, oxygenation index from 200 to 300, were 29.7%. Besides, common cases, oxygenation index higher than 300, accounted for 44.1%. At the end of follow-up, 34 (17%) were died on mean 10.9 day after hospitalization. Stratified analysis revealed that older ages, lower oxygenation index and comorbidities elevated death risk of COVID-19 patients. On admission, 85.5%COVID-19 patients were with at least one of extrapulmonary organ injuries.Univariable logistic regression showed that ALT and TBIL, two indexes of hepatic injury, AST, myoglobin and LDH, AST/ALT ratio, several markers of myocardial injury, creatinine, urea nitrogen and uric acid, three indexes of renal injury, were positively associated with death risk of COVID-19 patients. Multivariable logistic regression revealed that AST/ALT ratio, urea nitrogen, TBIL and LDH on admission were positively correlated with death risk of COVID-19 patients. : medRxiv preprint significance to prevent multiple organ damage and improve the survival of COVID-19 patients. : medRxiv preprint RR was 3.698 (95% Cl: 0.825, 16.574; P=0.062) in COVID-19 patients between 50 and 59 years old, 2.907 (95% Cl: 0.632, 13.359; P=0.145) in patients between 60 and 69 years old, and 10.679 (95% Cl: 2.624, 43.459; P＜0.001) in patients over 70 years old, respectively. The relationship between oxygenation index and death risk of COVID-19 patients was analyzed. As shown in Table 1, the fatality rate was 52.9% in critical ill cases, 6.90% in severe cases, and 3.49% in common cases, respectively. The RR was 15.176 (95% Cl: 4.847, 47.519; P＜0.001) in critical ill cases with COVID-19 and 4...

More than 1000 candidate-gene association studies on genetic susceptibility to lung cancer have been published over the last two decades but with few consensuses for the likely culprits. We conducted a comprehensive review, meta-analysis and evidence strength evaluation of published candidate-gene association studies in lung cancer up to November 1, 2015. The epidemiological credibility of cumulative evidence was assessed using the Venice criteria. A total of 1018 publications with 2910 genetic variants in 754 different genes or chromosomal loci were eligible for inclusion. Main meta-analyses were performed on 246 variants in 138 different genes. Twenty-two variants from 21 genes (APEX1 rs1130409 and rs1760944, ATM rs664677, AXIN2 rs2240308, CHRNA3 rs6495309, CHRNA5 rs16969968, CLPTM1L rs402710, CXCR2 rs1126579, CYP1A1 rs4646903, CYP2E1 rs6413432, ERCC1 rs11615, ERCC2 rs13181, FGFR4 rs351855, HYKK rs931794, MIR146A rs2910164, MIR196A2 rs11614913, OGG1 rs1052133, PON1 rs662, REV3L rs462779, SOD2 rs4880, TERT rs2736098, and TP53 rs1042522) showed significant associations with lung cancer susceptibility with strong cumulative epidemiological evidence. No significant associations with lung cancer risk were found for other 150 variants in 98 genes; however, seven variants demonstrated strong cumulative evidence. Our findings provided the most updated summary of genetic risk effects on lung cancer and would help inform future research direction.