ILF2 protein is a promising serum biomarker for early detection of gastric cancer.

Background: Our previous small-sample study indicated that serum levels of interleukin enhancer binding factor 2 (ILF2) may have the potential for gastric cancer (GC) detection. The present study was conducted to further validate the diagnostic value of serum ILF2 protein for GC.

Methods: Serum specimens and clinical data were collected from patients with GC (n = 99) or benign gastric disease (BGD) (n = 49) and healthy controls (HC) (n = 51).

Trends and frontiers in signal amplification for aptamer-based tumor detection: A bibliometric analysis.

Background: Malignant tumors are one of the leading causes of death worldwide, imposing a substantial economic and social burden. Early detection is the key to improving cure rates and reducing mortality rates, which requires the development of sensitive early detection technologies. Signal amplification techniques play a crucial role in aptamer-based early detection of tumors and are increasingly garnering attention from researchers.

Evolution and Trends of Aptamers in Cancer Research: A Bibliometric Analysis of the Literature over the Last Decade.

Objective: Aptamers are increasingly applied in cancer research. Here, we have performed the first bibliometric analysis to demonstrate the evolution of aptamers in cancer research over the past decade and to reveal future trends.

Method: Original articles and reviews on aptamers in cancer research published from 2013 to 2022 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection database.

The Index sAGP is Valuable for Distinguishing Atypical Hepatocellular Carcinoma from Atypical Benign Focal Hepatic Lesions.

Purpose: The differential diagnosis of atypical hepatocellular carcinoma (aHCC) and atypical benign focal hepatic lesions (aBFHL) usually depends on pathology. This study aimed to develop non-invasive approaches based on conventional blood indicators for the differential diagnosis of aHCC and aBFHL.

Patients And Methods: Hospitalized patients with pathologically confirmed focal hepatic lesions and their clinical data were retrospectively collected, in which patients with HCC with serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels of ≤200 ng/mL and atypical imaging features were designated as the aHCC group (n = 224), and patients with benign focal hepatic lesions without typical imaging features were designated as the aBFHL group (n = 178).

Bibliometric analysis of aptamer-conjugated nanoparticles for diagnosis in the last two decades.

Aptamer-conjugated nanoparticles for diagnosis have recently gained increasing attention. Here, we performed a bibliometric analysis to provide an overview of this field over the past two decades..

Data-driven decision-making for precision diagnosis of digestive diseases.

Modern omics technologies can generate massive amounts of biomedical data, providing unprecedented opportunities for individualized precision medicine. However, traditional statistical methods cannot effectively process and utilize such big data. To meet this new challenge, machine learning algorithms have been developed and applied rapidly in recent years, which are capable of reducing dimensionality, extracting features, organizing data and forming automatable data-driven clinical decision systems.

Analysis of aptamer-target binding and molecular mechanisms by thermofluorimetric analysis and molecular dynamics simulation.

Aptamers are valuable for bioassays, but aptamer-target binding is susceptible to reaction conditions. In this study, we combined thermofluorimetric analysis (TFA) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to optimize aptamer-target binding, explore underlying mechanisms and select preferred aptamer. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) aptamer AP273 (as the model) was incubated with AFP under various experimental conditions, and melting curves were measured in a real-time PCR system to select the optimal binding conditions.

Combination of multiple nucleic acid aptamers for precision detection of tumors based on optical methods.

Background And Purpose: Nucleic acid aptamers are a novel molecular recognition tool that is functionally similar to antibodies but superior to antibodies in terms of thermal stability, structural modification, preparation, and cost, and therefore hold great promise for molecular detection. However, due to the limitations of a single aptamer in molecular detection, the multiple aptamer combination for bioanalysis has received much attention. Here, we reviewed the progress of tumor precision detection based on the combination of multiple nucleic acid aptamers and optical methods and discussed its challenges and prospects.

New indexes derived from routine blood tests and their clinical application in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Considerable efforts have been made in the diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the prognosis of patients with HCC remains poor. The development of officious and easy-to-use indicators that are applicable to all levels of hospitals for the diagnosis, prognosis and risk prediction of HCC may play an important role in improving the current undesirable situation. The occurrence of HCC can cause a series of local and systemic changes, involving liver function, inflammation, immunity, and nutrition, which can be reflected in routine clinical indicators, especially laboratory metrics.

Aptamer-Based Triple Serum Fluorescence Intensity Assay: A Novel and Feasible Method for the Clinical Diagnosis of Primary Hepatic Carcinoma.

Background And Aims: Aptamers are artificial ligands that bind to biological targets with high specificity and affinity. We previously selected a group of aptamers against the serum of primary hepatic carcinoma (PHC) systematic evolution of ligands by exponential and enrichment (SELEX) method, and some of the aptamers were valuable for PHC diagnosis in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) analysis. Here, we used aptamers to develop a novel method suitable for the clinical diagnosis of PHC.

A novel four-gene signature for predicting the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective: To identify and utilize gene signatures for the prognostic evaluation of postoperative patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: The gene mRNA expression profiles and corresponding clinicopathological data of postoperative patients with HCC were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Highly differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in tumor tissues compared to adjacent tissues were identified, and their associations with the overall survival (OS) of HCC patients were analyzed.

AFP-L3 for the diagnosis of early hepatocellular carcinoma: A meta-analysis.

Background: The present study aimed to systematically evaluate the diagnostic value of an isoform of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), AFP-L3, for early hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by a meta-analysis.

Methods: Diagnostic reports of AFP-L3% in early HCC were searched in the PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Embase databases up to December 2019. The retrieved literature was reviewed, and eligible articles were selected.

Establishment of a risk assessment system for peptic ulcer recurrence and its value in individualized intervention.

Objective: To investigate the establishment of a risk assessment system for peptic ulcer (PU) recurrence and implement an individualized intervention for PU patients with a moderate to high recurrence risk to reduce the recurrence of PU in patients with a moderate to high recurrence risk.

Methods: The factors for PU recurrence were collected through consulting the literature, and a risk prediction model for PU recurrence was established using the univariate binary and multivariate multinomial Logistic stepwise regression analysis. According to the model, a total of 235 PU patients were divided into patients with high, moderate and low recurrence risks.

Blood-derived molecular signatures as biomarker panels for the early detection of colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of tumor morbidity and mortality worldwide. Endoscopy is currently the main screening method, but the invasiveness and high cost hamper the application of endoscopy in asymptomatic patients with a risk of CRC and lead to a low diagnostic rate for early CRC. In recent years, the progress of transcriptomics, epigenetics, immunomics and metabolomics has greatly contributed to the identification of novel molecular markers for the noninvasive screening of CRC, and many molecules in various biological processes have been identified and evaluated for CRC detection.

New Blood Biomarkers for the Diagnosis of AFP-Negative Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

An early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) followed by effective treatment is currently critical for improving the prognosis and reducing the associated economic burden. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is the most widely used biomarker for HCC diagnosis. Based on elevated serum AFP levels as well as typical imaging features, AFP-positive HCC (APHC) can be easily diagnosed, but AFP-negative HCC (ANHC) is not easily detected due to lack of ideal biomarkers and thus mainly reliance on imaging.

Cytoskeleton-associated membrane protein 4 is upregulated in tumor tissues and is associated with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma.

The role of cytoskeleton-associated membrane protein 4 (CKAP4) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is controversial. The present study aimed to investigate the association between tumor CKAP4 mRNA expression and clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis in patients with HCC. Data relating to CKAP4 mRNA expression in HCC tumor and normal adjacent liver tissues, and clinicopathological characteristics, were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus and The Cancer Genome Atlas databases.

Fluid Biomarkers for Predicting the Prognosis of Liver Cirrhosis.

Liver cirrhosis is the terminal stage of most chronic liver conditions, with a high risk of mortality. Careful evaluation of the prognosis of cirrhotic patients and providing precise management are crucial to reduce the risk of mortality. Although the liver biopsy and hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) can efficiently evaluate the prognosis of cirrhotic patients, their application is limited due to the invasion procedures.

Simple Clinical Metrics Enhance AFP to Effectively Identify Cirrhotic Patients With Complicating Hepatocellular Carcinoma at Various AFP Levels.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) frequently occurs in cirrhosis and closely relates to poor prognosis of cirrhotic patients. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is the most widely used biomarker in HCC diagnosis but not sensitive and specific to detect HCC at low AFP levels. In order to enhance the ability of AFP to detect HCC developed on cirrhosis, we attempted to combine AFP with conventional clinical metrics to develop a simple and effective method for identifying cirrhotic patients with complicating HCC at various AFP levels.

BDNF gene polymorphism and serum level correlate with liver function in patients with hepatitis B-induced cirrhosis.

We investigate the correlation of serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) level and its gene polymorphism with liver function classification in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) induced liver cirrhosis. A total of 182 patients with HBV induced liver cirrhosis were collected as a case group, and 186 healthy subjects in the same period were used as the control group. ELISA measured serum BDNF levels.

A Simple-to-Use Nomogram for Predicting the Survival of Early Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients.

This study aimed to develop and validate a simple-to-use nomogram for early hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients undergoing a preoperative consultation and doctors conducting a postoperative evaluation. A total of 2,225 HCC patients confirmed with stage I or II were selected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database between January 2010 and December 2015. The patients were randomly divided into two groups: a training group ( = 1,557) and a validation group ( = 668).

Pretreatment risk management of a novel nomogram model for prediction of thoracoabdominal extrahepatic metastasis in primary hepatic carcinoma.

Background: Extrahepatic metastasis is the independent risk factor of poor survival of primary hepatic carcinoma (PHC), and most occurs in the chest and abdomen. Currently, there is still no available method to predict thoracoabdominal extrahepatic metastasis in PHC. In this study, a novel nomogram model was developed and validated for prediction of thoracoabdominal extrahepatic metastasis in PHC, thereby conducted individualized risk management for pretreatment different risk population.

MicroRNAs as potential biomarkers for diagnosis, therapy and prognosis of gastric cancer.

Despite the widespread use of endoscopy and conventional tumor biomarkers, gastric cancer (GC) remains one of the most frequent causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide due to its late diagnosis and poor response to treatment. Valuable and practical biomarkers are urgently needed to screen patients with a high risk of GC that can complement endoscopic diagnosis. Such biomarkers will enable the efficient prediction of therapeutic response and prognosis of GC patients and favor the establishment of an effective treatment strategy for each and every patient.