miR-892a regulated PPP2R2A expression and promoted cell proliferation of human colorectal cancer cells

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignancy cancers in the world. Aberrant microRNA expression is involved in human diseases including cancer. In the present study, we investigated the miR-892a's role in CRC cell proliferation. We found that miR-892a was frequently upregulated in human colorectal cancer tissues and cell lines compared with the matched tumor adjacent tissues and normal colonic cell line FHC. Overexpression of miR-892a promoted cell proliferation and colony formation of CRC. Bioinformatics analysis further revealed PPP2R2A was identified as a potential miR-892a. Overexpression of miR-892a-in SW480 cells reduced PPP2R2A protein expression. Subsequently, data from luciferase reporter assays showed that PPP2R2A 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) carried the directly binding site of miR-892a. Furthermore, siRNA-mediated silencing of PPP2R2A blocked the inhibitory effect of miR-892a-in on CRC cell growth. In sum, our data provided compelling evidence that overexpression of miR-892a may provide a selective growth promotion for CRC cells by direct suppression of PPP2R2A expression.     

Identifying strains that contribute to complex diseases through the study of microbial inheritance

It has been 35 y since Carl Woese reported in PNAS how sequencing ribosomal RNA genes could be used to distinguish the three domains of life on Earth. During the past decade, 16S rDNA sequencing has enabled the now frequent enumeration of bacterial communities that populate the bodies of humans representing different ages, cultural traditions, and health states. A challenge going forward is to quantify the contributions of community members to wellness, disease risk, and disease pathogenesis. Here, we explore a theoretical framework for studies of the inheritance of bacterial strains and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various study designs for assessing the contribution of strains to complex diseases.     

The role of WNT signalling in urothelial cell carcinoma

Urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC) of the bladder is one of the most common malignancies, causing considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide. It is unique among the epithelial carcinomas as two distinct pathways to tumourigenesis appear to exist: low grade, recurring papillary tumours usually contain oncogenic mutations in FGFR3 or HRAS whereas high grade, muscle invasive tumours with metastatic potential generally have defects in the pathways controlled by the tumour suppressors p53 and retinoblastoma. Over the last two decades, a number of transgenic mouse models of UCC, containing deletions or mutations of key tumour suppressor genes or oncogenes, have helped us understand the mechanisms behind tumour development. In this summary, I present my work investigating the role of the WNT signalling cascade in UCC.     

Surgical Resection of a Liver Metastasis from Breast Cancer

We report a case of a solitary liver metastasis from breast cancer in a 65-year-old woman. The patient underwent a mastectomy and axillary lymph node clearance for right breast cancer in 1990. A solitary metastasis was found in the left lobe of the liver by ultrasonography, 20 years after the initial mastectomy. A left lateral segmentectomy was performed in January 2011 and adjuvant hormonal therapy was also initiated. At present, she remains disease free.This case demonstrates the implementation of liver resection to provide an effective treatment for metachronous metastatic breast cancer. We encourage surgeons to offer suitable patients this surgical treatment option, which is shown to provide a survival benefit.     

Risk based neoadjuvant chemotherapy in muscle invasive bladder cancer

Muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) is an aggressive disease that frequently requires radical cystectomy (RC) to achieve durable cure rates. Surgery is most effective when performed in organ-confined disease, with the best outcomes for those patients with a pT0 result. The goals of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NC) are to optimize surgical outcomes for a malignancy with limited adjuvant therapies and a lack of effective salvage treatments. Despite level 1 evidence demonstrating a survival benefit, the utilization of NC has been hampered by several issues, including, the inability to predict responders and the perception that NC may delay curative surgery. In this article, we review the current efforts to identify patients that are most likely to derive a benefit from NC, in order to create a risk-adapted paradigm that reserves NC for those who need it.