The Predictive Efficacy of Serum Exosomal microRNA-122 and microRNA-148a for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Based on Smart Healthcare

Objective. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a devastating tumor globally. Serum exosomes are reliable biomarkers for tumors, including HCC. Hence, this study explored the efficacy and mechanism of serum exosomes in HCC. Methods. microRNA (miR)-122 and miR-148a expressions in serum exosomes from HCC patients and healthy subjects and their predictive efficacy for HCC were detected. Correlation between serum exosomal miR-122/148a expressions with survival rate, clinical stage, lymph node metastasis, and tumor differentiation level and levels of HCC-related serum markers (CA199, FucAFP, ALD-A, and AFu) were detected. PAX2 staining intensity and expression in HCC were measured. PAX2 predictive efficacy for HCC and its correlation with clinical stage, lymph node metastasis, tumor differentiation level, and HCC-related serum marker levels were analyzed. The targeted binding relationship between miR-122 and miR-148a and PAX2 was predicted and verified. Results. Serum exosomal miR-122 and miR-148a expressions were downregulated in HCC, showing potent predictive efficacy for HCC, which was negatively related to clinical stage and lymph node metastasis and positively related to tumor differentiation level, patient survival rate, and HCC-related serum marker levels. PAX2 showed increased staining intensity and expression in HCC, together with high predictive efficacy for HCC. PAX2 expression showed a positive correlation with clinical stage and lymph node metastasis and a negative correlation with tumor differentiation level and HCC-related serum marker levels. miR-122 and miR-148a conjointly targeted PAX2 in HCC. Conclusion. We demonstrated that serum exosomal miR-122 and miR-148a played a predictive role and were linked to prognosis in HCC via interactions with PAX2.

Ethyl-Iophenoxic acid as a serum marker for oral baiting of carnivorous marsupials

Context: Ethyl-Iophenoxic acid (Et-IPA) has been widely used as a bait biomarker to determine oral bait consumption by vertebrate wildlife species. Oral bait vaccines have been delivered to numerous wildlife species to protect them from disease. The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilis harrisii), the largest extant carnivorous marsupial species, is threatened by the transmissible cancers known as devil facial tumour disease (DFTD). Development of a protective DFTD vaccine is underway, and an oral bait has been proposed to deliver the vaccine in the wild. The bait delivery system requires a biomarker that can be detected for several months post-consumption in Tasmanian devils. Aim: To determine the suitability of Et-IPA as a bait biomarker in the Tasmanian devil. Method: Two Tasmanian devils were fed 50 mg Et-IPA (4.5 to 7.1 mg Et-IPA/kg bodyweight). Liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/-MS) was used to directly measure Et-IPA in baseline serum samples and samples collected on days 1, 14, 26 and 56 post-baiting. Key results: Both devils retained serum Et-IPA concentrations at two orders of magnitude above negative control sera when this study concluded. Conclusions: Et-IPA is a useful bait biomarker for Tasmanian devils and can be included in future DFTD bait vaccine field trials to determine bait vaccine uptake.

The Predictive Value of Serum Alkaline Phosphatase Level on the Degree of Neurological Impairment in Patients With Acute Cerebral Infarction

ObjectiveTo analyze the correlation between the changes of ALP level and the degree of neurological impairment in patients with acute cerebral infarction. MethodsA total of 267 patients with acute cerebral infarction were selected as the cerebral infarction group, 181 elderly patients who were matched age and gender in the same period with the cerebral infarction group were selected as the control group by the physical examination. All the selected patients were tested for serum ALP, ALT, AST, Cr, BUN,TG, TC, LDL - C and HDL - C after eight hours on an empty stomach. In the 72nd hour of the patient's course of cerebral infarction, the degree of neurological impairment was assessed using NIHSS score. The relationship between serum ALP level and NIHSS score was analyzed. ResultsAccording to NIHSS score, the patients with score of 5~15 were Group A , patients with score of 15~20 were Group B and score of 21~42 were Group C. Pearson correlation analysis showed that the serum ALP level of the three groups was positively correlated with NIHSS score. Multivariate regression analysis results showed that the high serum ALP level of the risk of cerebral infarction is a low serum ALP level 1.58 times. ConclusionsSerum ALP level was increased in patients with acute cerebral infarction and was closely related to the degree of neurological impairment. Perhaps the serum ALP level may be used as a serum marker to predict the degree of neurological impairment in patients.

Correlation between tumor markers in pre and post treatment of pancreatic cancer patients

One of the main causes of death in India is pancreas cancer. Various blood tumour indicators such as 19-9 carbohydrate antigen (CA19-9), antigen125 carbohydrate (CA125), antigen carcinoembryogenic (CEA) and alphaetoprotein (AFP) imbalance are observed in therapy for cancer. In disease predictions, thorough monitoring of the change in serum tumour markers was highly essential. The present investigation was thus conducted to examine serum marker tumour profiles before and after therapy of individuals with pancreatic cancer. The study comprised 400 individuals from both sexes suffering from pancreatic carcinogenic malignancy. In the pre and post-treatment of patients we detected serum tumour markers. In post-treatment groups, serum tumour marker levels were lower than before the individuals were treated. However, using pairs of samples t-testing at pfleg.0.05 these changes were statistically significant. Marker alterations in the serum tumour have shown risk for individuals. These alterations therefore enable the cancer individuals to predict and monitor properly.

The Emerging Influences of Alpha-Fetoprotein in the Tumorigenesis and Progression of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common cancer worldwide, and its mortality rate is the third-highest, after lung cancer and colorectal cancer. Currently, systematic targeted therapies for HCC mainly include multiple kinase inhibitors and immunotherapy. However, these drugs carry a black-box warning about the potential for inducing severe toxicity, and they do not significantly prolong the survival period of patients due to the highly heterogeneous characteristics of HCC etiology. In order to improve the prediction, effective treatment and prognosis of HCC, the tools and different biomarkers in clinical practices are recommended. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is the earliest and the most widely used serum marker in the detection of HCC. Interestingly, serum AFP and cytoplasmic AFP show different, even opposite, roles in the cancer progression of HCC. This review focuses on biological characteristics, regulatory mechanisms for gene expression, emerging influences of AFP in HCC and its possible implications in HCC-targeted therapy.

Development and Validation of a Novel Serum Prognostic Marker for Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer on Regorafenib Treatment

(1) Background: To investigate the prognostic value of cancer-inflammation prognostic index (CIPI) in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) on regorafenib treatment; (2) Methods: Patients with mCRC who were given regorafenib as later-line treatment at Kaohsiung and Linkou Chang-Gung Memorial Hospital between November 2014 and January 2021 were consecutively enrolled. All relevant clinicopathologic, laboratory data and survival status were recorded. Independent prognostic factors were determined by the multivariate Cox regression method; (3) Results: In total, 106 patients in the training cohort and 250 in the validation cohort were enrolled. The median OS for patients with CIPI ≥ 300 and < 300 in the training cohort was 3.8 and 9.0 months, respectively (hazard ratio (HR) 2.78, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.82–4.23; p < 0.0001). Time to regorafenib, liver metastasis and CIPI were independent factors by multivariate Cox regression analyses. A new scoring model demonstrated a good discriminatory ability to risk stratification of a patient’s survival; (4) Conclusions: We identified CIPI as a novel serum marker highly associated with overall survival in patients with mCRC receiving regorafenib treatment. Further confirmatory studies are warranted.