Cripto-1 expression in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma is associated with poor disease outcome.

Background: Cripto-1 (CR-1) has been reported to be involved in the development of several human cancers. The potential role of CR-1 in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is still not clear.

Methods: CR-1 expression was evaluated in ccRCC tissues by Real-time quantitative PCR, Western blot and immunohistochemistry.

Engrailed-2 promoter hyper-methylation is associated with its downregulation in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

In a previous study by the present authors, it was identified that the expression of engrailed-2 (EN2) gene was downregulated in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (cc-RCC). The aim of the present study was to determine whether aberrant methylation was the mechanism underlying the silencing of EN2 gene in cc-RCC. A total of forty paired cc-RCC tissues, four cc-RCC cell lines and one normal human proximal tubule epithelial cell line were evaluated for EN2 gene methylation status using methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Engrailed-2 might play an anti-oncogenic role in clear-cell renal cell carcinoma.

Our preliminary study indicated that Engrailed-2 (EN2) is downregulated but also ectopically expressed in clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC), and the absence of EN2 expression was associated with poor histological grade. However, the specific roles of EN2 in CCRCC have yet to be elucidated. In the present study, we examined the effects of inhibiting EN2 expression by human renal tubular epithelial cells (HK-2) and overexpressing EN2 by human clear-cell renal cells (786-O).

Prospective randomized comparison of transumbilical two-port laparoscopic and conventional laparoscopic varicocele ligation.

We have established a novel method named transumbilical two-port laparoscopic varicocele ligation (TTLVL) for varicocele, which is still needed to evaluate. In this study, 90 patients with left idiopathic symptomatic varicoceles of grades II-III according to the Dubin grading system were randomly assigned to TTLVL (n = 45) and conventional laparoscopic varicocele ligation (CLVL) (n = 45). The demographic, intraoperative, postoperative, and follow-up data were recorded and compared between the two groups.

Si-RNA mediated knockdown of CELF1 gene suppressed the proliferation of human lung cancer cells.

Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in the world, with metastasis as the main reason for the mortality. CELF1 is an RNA-binding protein controlling the post-transcriptional regulation of genes related to cell survival. As yet, there is little knowledge of CELF1 expression and biological function in lung cancer.

Overexpression of FoxM1 is associated with tumor progression in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

Background: Fork head box M1 (FoxM1) is a proliferation-associated transcription factor essential for cell cycle progression. Numerous studies have documented that FoxM1 has multiple functions in tumorigenesis and its elevated levels are frequently associated with cancer progression. The present study was conducted to investigate the expression of FoxM1 and its prognostic significance in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC).

CD147 overexpression is a prognostic factor and a potential therapeutic target in bladder cancer.

CD147, also named extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer (EMMPRIN), has been shown to be involved in the progression of malignancy by regulating expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). The goal of this study was to evaluate the role of CD147 in the biology of bladder cancer and to determine its potential as a therapeutic target. CD147 protein expression was detected by immunohistochemistry in 108 bladder cancers using a tissue microarray annotated with patient follow-up.