miR-30a inhibits breast cancer progression through the Wnt/β-catenin pathway.

Background: miR-30a is a microRNA associated with the progression of malignant tumors such as gastric cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, and lung cancer, and can regulate the proliferation and migration of breast cancer (BC) cells in vitro. However, its expression, function, clinical significance and relationship with the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in human BC were still unclear.

Methods: Immunohistochemistry, Western blotting and real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) were used to measure the expressions of miR-30a and β-catenin in 114 pairs of human BC tumor tissues and adjacent normal tissues which were collected from March 2014 to October 2015.

PI3K/Akt signaling is involved in the pathogenesis of bleomycin‑induced pulmonary fibrosis via regulation of epithelial‑mesenchymal transition.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive lung disease characterized by chronic inflammation, fibroblast proliferation and extracellular matrix deposition. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis remain to be fully elucidated. The contribution of the phosphoinositide 3‑kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) pathway in fibrotic processes remains to be investigated.

Preliminary study on CT perfusion imaging in guiding biopsy of pulmonary lumps.

Background: CT perfusion imaging (CTP) has been proved to be a powerful functional imaging technique. This study aimed to evaluate the value of CTP in guiding biopsy of pulmonary lumps.

Methods: A total of 147 patients with pulmonary lumps who had CT guided biopsies were enrolled in this study from February 2005 to June 2007.