Aim: Immunotherapy is currently being explored as a potential treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study investigated the prognostic value of immune-related long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in patients with HCC. Methods: The Wilcoxon test was used to compare differentially expressed lncRNAs between HCC tissue and non-tumor tissue. Moreover, co-expression analysis was used to determine immune-related lncRNA. Univariate cox regression analysis and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression were used to identify immune-related prognostic lncRNA. The immune risk score was calculated by the sum of the product from each lncRNA expression and its coefficient. Furthermore, the prognostic significance of the lncRNA signature was determined in the training group, testing group, and the entire group. A prognostic nomogram was established by integrating immune risk score and clinicopathological features. Results: PRRT3-AS1 and AL031985.3 were identified as immune-related prognostic lncRNAs in HCC patients. HCC patients were divided into high and low-risk groups based on the optimal cutoff value of risk score in the training group. The prognosis of HCC patients in the high-risk group was worse compared with the low-risk group. Besides, the immune-related lncRNA score was regarded as an independent risk factor for the prognosis of HCC patients. The predictive nomogram showed satisfactory discrimination and consistency. Gene enrichment analysis results indicated that the high-risk group was associated with immune-related signaling pathways. Conclusion: This study screened a 2-lncRNA signature and constructed a nomogram to predict the survival of HCC patients, thereby provided guidelines for undertaking medical decisions.

Patients with pituitary adenoma have often suffered cognitive impairment. The study aims to identify the factors, and their impact, that affect the cognitive functions of pituitary adenoma patients. Seventy-six patients with pituitary adenoma were recruited, together with 76 healthy subjects as control. Patients (34 functioning and 42 non-functioning) were randomly assigned into either microscopic (n = 44) or neural endoscopic (n = 32) group. All surgeries were performed through single-nostril transsphenoidal approach under general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation. All patients were examined with cognitive assessments (CAMCOG-C and MMSE tests), tumor size, eyesight, and hormone levels before surgery. Three months after surgery, all patients were examined again to check hormone level changes by blood samples, tumor excision status via MRI, and cognitive assessments. Compared with healthy control, total score and multiple cognitive scores of CAMCOG-C and MMSE were significantly lower before surgery. There were no correlations between cognitive functions and tumor size or eyesight. Significant difference in cognitive functions was found between functioning and non-functioning pituitary adenoma patients. Significant increase in cognitive functions occurred after surgery, whereas no difference was detected between the two different surgical treatments. The hormone levels were improved significantly in patients with hormone disorders after surgery. The physical compression from tumor might not play a key role in cognitive impairment. However, hormone disorders could be a major factor to cognitive impairment. The improvement in cognitive functions is attributed to the amelioration of endocrine disorders. There were no differences between two surgical treatments.

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Background: Although many genes related to epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) have been explored in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), their prognostic significance still needs further analysis.Methods: Differentially expressed EMT-related genes were obtained through the integrated analysis of 4 Gene expression omnibus (GEO) datasets. The univariate Cox regression and Lasso Cox regression models are utilized to determine the EMT-related gene signature. Based on the results of multivariate Cox regression, a predictive nomogram is established. Time-dependent ROC curve and calibration curve are used to show the distinguishing ability and consistency of the nomogram. Finally, we explored the correlation between EMT risk score and immune immunity.Results: We identified a nine EMT-related gene signature to predict the survival outcome of HCC patients. Based on the EMT risk score’s median, HCC patients in each dataset were divided into high and low-risk groups. The survival outcomes of HCC patients in the high-risk group were significantly worse than those in the low-risk group. The prediction nomogram based on the EMT risk score has better distinguishing ability and consistency. High EMT risk score was related to immune infiltration.Conclusion: The nomogram based on the EMT risk score can reliably predict the survival outcome of HCC patients, thereby providing benefits for medical decisions.

Background: The prognostic value of miR-199b in cancers has not been fully clarified. Methods: All articles evaluating the prognostic value of miR-199b in tumors were included. The hazard ratio (HR), odds ratio (OR) and 95% CI were calculated to assess the relationship between miR-199b expression and survival outcomes and clinicopathological features. Results: The combined results indicated that high miR-199b expression predicted favorable overall survival (OS) compared with low miR-199b expression (HR: 0.62, 95% CI: 0.44–0.87). In addition, high miR-199b expression had a significant correlation with the prevention of lymph node metastasis (OR: 0.39, 95% CI: 0.25–0.59). Conclusion: MiR-199b can be used as an effective prognostic marker in cancers.