Angiogenesis has an important role in tumour cell growth and metastasis. Anisomycin has been shown to inhibit tumour cell growth. However, whether anisomycin can inhibit angiogenesis of tumours has not been reported. The present study demonstrated that there was a positive correlation between tumour angiogenesis and the number of CD44 + /CD133 + serous human ovarian cancer stem cells (HuOCSCs). Subsequently, it was confirmed that anisomycin significantly inhibited the proliferation, invasion, tumorigenic ability and tumour angiogenesis of HuOCSCs. Gene expression profiling by cDNA microarrays revealed that the expression levels of vascular endothelial cell markers, platelet-derived growth factors, Notch pathway components and 27 tumour angiogenesis-related genes were significantly decreased in the anisomycin-treated group compared with the control group. Further experiments demonstrated that the expression levels of endogenous long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) maternally expressed 3 (Meg3) were significantly decreased in anisomycin-treated HuOCSCs, whereas the expression levels of microRNA (miR)-421 were significantly increased. The results of luciferase reporter assays indicated that, when miR-421 was overexpressed in cells, the luciferase activities of wild-type platelet derived growth factor receptor α (PDGFRA) 3' untranslated region and Meg3 reporter plasmids were significantly decreased. Overexpression of miR-421 in HuOCSCs significantly enhanced the anisomycin-mediated inhibition of HuOCSC proliferation. Taken together, the present results demonstrated that anisomycin inhibited the activation downstream of the Notch1 pathway by attenuating the molecular sponge effect of the lncRNA-Meg3/miR-421/PDGFRA axis, ultimately inhibiting angiogenesis, proliferation and invasion in ovarian cancer cells.

Background: The evidence of combining neoadjuvant chemotherapy with targeted therapy for patients with locally advanced gastric cancer is inadequate. We conducted a singlearm phase II trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of S-1, oxaliplatin and apatinib (SOXA) in patients with locally advanced gastric adenocarcinoma. Methods: Treatment-naïve patients received three preoperative cycles of S-1 (80e120 mg/day on days 1e14) and oxaliplatin (130 mg/m 2 on day 1) and two cycles of apatinib (500 mg/day for 21 days) at 3-week intervals, followed by surgery. The primary end-point was pathologic response rate (pRR). This trial is registered at ChiCTR.gov.cn: ChiCTR-OPC-16010061. Results: Of 29 patients included, median age was 60 (range, 43e73) years; 20 (69.0%) were male. The pRR was 89.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 72.7%e97.8%; 26 of 29 patients; P < 0.001) with 28 patients treated with surgery. All 29 patients were available for preoperative response evaluation, achieving an objective response rate of 79.3% (95% CI, 60.3% e92.0%) and a disease control rate of 96.6% (95% CI, 82.2%e99.9%). The margin-free resection rate was 96.6% (95% CI, 82.2%e99.9%). The pathologic complete response rate was 13.8% (95%CI, 1.2%e26.3%). Downstaging of overall TNM stage was observed in 16

Contrasting results have been reported regarding the associations between plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) and B vitamin levels and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) risk. Thus, we aimed to systematically evaluate these associations. Relevant case control studies in English were identified via a thorough search of the PubMed, Medline, and Embase databases from inception to June 2014. The results were pooled using Review Manager 5.2.1. Eleven studies (including 1072 cases and 1202 controls) were eligible for analysis of tHcy levels; additionally, 3 studies (including 152 cases and 98 controls) were eligible for analysis of folic acid and vitamin B12 levels. The cumulative results demonstrated that the plasma tHcy level among the AMD cases was 2.67 μmol/L (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.60-3.74) higher than that among the controls. In contrast, the vitamin B12 level among the AMD cases was 64.16 pg/mL (95% CI, 19.32-109.00) lower than that among the controls. Subgroup analyses showed that the folic acid level was 1.66 ng/mL (95% CI, 0.10-3.21) lower for the wet type. Together, the results demonstrated that AMD is associated with elevated tHcy levels and decreased vitamin B12 levels. Plasma tHcy may act as a modulator of the risk for AMD based on the current evidence.