Background: Depression is considered as one of the most common neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients. Prescription of antidepressants is a current clinical practice well-established as the first-line treatment for such patients. Our study was aimed at systematically examining the evidence on the efficacy of antidepressants in the treatment of depression in AD patients. Methods: We conducted a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials retrieved by systematic search of the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, Embase, and CNKI databases. Primary outcomes included mean depression score and safety. Secondary outcomes were cognition. The surface under the cumulative ranking curve was performed to estimate a ranking probability for different treatments. Results: A total of 25 studies including 14 medications met the inclusion criteria. Compared with placebo, only mirtazapine (standard mean deviation [SMD], −1.94; 95% confidence interval [CI], −3.53 to −0.36; p < 0.05) and sertraline (SMD, −1.16; 95% CI, −2.17 to −0.15; p < 0.05) showed a slightly better effect in treating symptoms of depression. Clomipramine increased risk of adverse events than placebo (odds ratio, 3.01; 95% CI, 1.45 to 4.57; p < 0.05). In terms of cognitive function, there was no statistically significant difference between antidepressants and placebo. Conclusion: Overall, in the short-term treatment, these data suggest that commonly used antidepressants sertraline and mirtazapine should be considered as an alternative treatment for depression in AD patients. However, more high-quality trials with large samples and longer following-up are proposed.

Despite aggressive treatment and androgen-deprivation therapy, most prostate cancer patients ultimately develop castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), which is associated with high mortality rates. However, the mechanisms governing the development of CRPC are poorly understood, and androgen receptor (AR) signaling has been shown to be important in CRPC through AR gene mutations, gene overexpression, co-regulatory factors, AR shear variants, and androgen resynthesis. A growing number of non-AR pathways have also been shown to influence the CRPC progression, including the Wnt and Hh pathways. Moreover, non-coding RNAs have been identified as important regulators of the CRPC pathogenesis. The present review provides an overview of the relevant literature pertaining to the mechanisms governing the molecular acquisition of castration resistance in prostate cancer, providing a foundation for future, targeted therapeutic efforts.

Objective Oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) is a malignant tumor that occurs at the tongue base, soft palate, palatine tonsil, and pharyngeal wall. Few studies of OPSCC have been performed in elderly patients. Methods Patients with human papilloma virus (HPV)-related OPSCC were extracted from the Head and Neck with HPV Status Database of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database between 2010 and 2016. We identified 355 patients with HPV-positive status, and we retrospectively evaluated elderly (≥65 years) and younger (30–64 years) patient groups to compare the differences. Results Of the 355 patients who were diagnosed with HPV-related OPSCC, 113 constituted the elderly group. Comparing the elderly group with the younger group, the 3-year HPV-positive overall survival (OS) rates were 62.4% and 70.2%, respectively, and the 5-year OS rates were 50.4% and 59.2%, respectively. Cox regression analysis demonstrated that tumor (T) stage and chemotherapy were prognostic factors for OS. Conclusion Elderly patients with OPSCC had different clinicopathological characteristics. T stage and chemotherapy should be priorities when evaluating the OS of elderly patients with OPSCC.

Background:In-depth research on tumors has shown that cancer stem cells (CSCs) play a crucial role in tumorigenesis. However, the mechanisms underlying the growth and maintenance of CSCs in stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD) are unclear. This study sought to investigate the expression of stem cell-related genes in STAD. Methods:We identified key genes related to STAD stem cell characteristics by combining gene expression data obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas to define a messenger ribonucleic acid expression-based stemness index (mRNAsi) based on mRNA expression. The correlations between the mRNAsi and STAD clinical characteristics, including age, tumor grade, pathological stage, and survival status, were explored.Additionally, a weighted gene co-expression network analysis was conducted to identify relevant modules and key genes. The expression verification and functional analysis of the key genes was carried out using multiple databases, including the TIMER (https://cistrome.shinyapps.io/timer/), and Gene Expression Profiling Integrative Analysis, and Gene Expression Omnibus databases. Results:The mRNAsi score was closely related to the clinical characteristics of STAD, including age, tumor grade, pathological stage, and survival status. Similarly, the mRNAsi score was significantly higher in STAD tissues than normal tissues, and the score decreased with tumor stage. The higher the mRNAsi score, the higher the overall survival rate. We screened a module of interest and found a strong correlation between 19 key genes. Among these 19 key genes, 16 had previously been shown to be closely related to STAD survival. The functional analysis showed that these key genes were linked to cell-cycle events, such as chromosome separation, mitosis, and microtubule movement.Conclusions: We identified 19 key genes that play an important role in the maintenance of STAD stem cells. Among these genes, 16 play a role in predicting the prognosis of STAD patients. The cell-cycle pathway was the most important signaling pathway for the key genes associated with STAD stem cells. These findings may provide a new rationale for screening therapeutic targets and the characterization of STAD stem cells.

BackgroundAndrogen-deprivation therapy (ADT) is used for the treatment of prostate cancer. However, the specific risk factors for the development of castration-resistant disease are still unclear. The present study sought to identify predictors of patient prognostic outcomes through analyses of clinical findings in large numbers of prostate cancer patients following ADT treatment.MethodsData pertaining to 163 prostate cancer patients treated at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical University and Maoming People’s Hospital from January 1, 2015, to December 30, 2020, were retrospectively analyzed. Dynamic changes in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels were regularly assessed, including both time to nadir (TTN) and nadir PSA (nPSA). Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed with Cox risk proportional regression models, while differences in biochemical progression-free survival (bPFS) were compared among groups with Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank tests.ResultsThe bPFS values over the median 43.5-month follow-up period differed significantly between patients with nPSA levels &lt; 0.2 ng/mL and ≥ 0.2 ng/mL, being 27.6 months and 13.5 months, respectively (log-rank P &lt; 0.001). A significant difference in median bPFS was also observed when comparing patients with a TTN ≥ 9 months (27.8 months) to those with a TTN &lt; 9 months (13.5 months) (log-rank P &lt; 0.001).ConclusionsTTN and nPSA are valuable predictors of prognosis in prostate cancer patients after ADT treatment, with better outcomes evident in patients with nPSA &lt; 0.2 ng/mL and TTN &gt; 9 months.