Head and neck cancer ranks as the sixth most common malignant tumor globally, with the majority of patients detected at advanced stages. Consequently, this study assessed the clinical diagnostic efficiency of exosomal microRNAs (miRNAs) for head and neck malignancies by meta-analysis.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) comprises around 25-30 % of leukemia cases in the West. Emerging evidence underscores the role of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) like miRNAs, lncRNAs, and CircRNAs in CLL pathogenesis and regulation. The unique properties of ncRNAs have given the potential as non-invasive diagnostic biomarkers for CLL.

Primary mesenchymal tumours of the central nervous system with uncertain differentiation are rare. The 5th edition of the WHO classification groups three of these entities according to their molecular profiles into: intracranial mesenchymal tumours with FET-CREB fusion, sarcomas with CIC rearrangement, and primary intracranial sarcomas with DICER1 mutations. The objectives of this study were to carry out a systematic review of the literature and to determine whether a specific morphology predominates in relation to the proposed molecular types.

To systematically review the implementation strategies, outcomes, and quality of interventions aimed at increasing the uptake of breast cancer-related genetic testing services among women who are at high-risk.

Cancer development involves complex interactions between immune mechanisms and the tumor microenvironment, with regulatory T cells (Tregs) being implicated in suppressing anti-tumor immunity. The X-linked gene Forkhead Box P3 (FOXP3), which regulates Tregs' function, and its promoter variant rs3761548 C>A have been widely studied for their role in tumorigenesis. This meta-analysis aims to re-evaluate the association between rs3761548 and cancer risk using two statistical approaches to account for sex-based genotypic differences and X-chromosome statistical challenges.

Background & objectives Kinesin superfamily proteins (KIFs), essential motor proteins involved in processes like mitosis and intracellular transport, have emerged as critical players in breast cancer (BC) progression. Recent studies highlight their potential as prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets. This research explores the association between the expression of KIFs and survival outcomes, including overall survival (OS), recurrence-free survival (RFS), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS). Methods In this study, we carried out a meta-analysis as per the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A thorough literature search was conducted using the PubMed and ScienceDirect databases, covering the period from June 1996 to October 2024. Hazard ratios (HRs) and their corresponding 95 per cent confidence intervals (CIs) were extracted from eligible studies and analysed using the RevMan software. Results Initially, we screened 220 articles for this systematic review, from which 11 studies met the inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis. In our analysis, we have observed that elevated KIFs levels were associated with poor OS (HR=1.77 with 95% CI=1.58-1.98 and P<0.00001), RFS (HR=1.40, 95% CI=1.31-1.49, P<0.00001), and DMFS (HR=1.72, 95% CI=1.49-1.99, P<0.00001). These findings suggest that increased expression of kinesin family members contributes to reduced survival rates and increases the risks of recurrence and metastasis in BC patients. Interpretation & conclusions Our study highlights the potential of kinensin family members as prognostic biomarkers for BC progression, providing insights that may help in clinical decision-making and patient management.

Background & objectives Cancer stem cells influence aggressive biology, metastasis, recurrence, and treatment resistance in various malignancies. The transcription factors SRY-box transcription factor 2 (SOX2), Octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (OCT4), and Homeobox protein NANOG (NANOG) are prime controllers of the signalling circuit required for embryonic stem cell pluripotency. Salivary gland tumours exhibit diverse biological and clinical behaviours ranging from a benign, innocuous nature to highly aggressive tumours, with a great tendency for recurrence, and poor prognosis. Advances in therapeutic modalities have also been limited. This systematic review aims to uncover the differential expression and influence of SOX2, OCT4, and NANOG in salivary gland malignancies. This could help the stratification of high-risk patients and the identification of newer prognostic and predictive remedial targets. Methods PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Clinical key databases were searched for relevant articles, and studies that met the eligibility criteria were selected. Results Ten articles that fulfilled the eligibility criteria were included. All the studies supported the role of the studied markers as prognosticators and potential therapeutic targets. Interpretation & conclusion The aforementioned transcription factors might have contributed to aggressiveness and poor prognosis. Thus, it has been inferred that a combination of these factors may serve as a marker to determine the behaviour and therapeutic approaches for salivary gland malignancies.

Endovascular interventions have increasingly replaced open surgery owing to their minimally invasive nature and benefits such as faster recovery and fewer wound complications. This shift has led to greater reliance on fluoroscopy, raising concerns about occupational radiation exposure. Ionizing radiation, although essential for guiding procedures, can damage living tissue and potentially induce long-term health effects. Recent guidelines from the European Society for Vascular Surgery and the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe emphasize growing radiation risks and advocate for dose optimization and protective strategies. Endovascular specialists-vascular surgeons, interventional cardiologists, and radiologists-are among the most exposed hospital staff. Yet, limited studies have specifically examined the effects of fluoroscopy-induced DNA damage and carcinogenesis in these professionals. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the extent to which occupational radiation exposure contributes to DNA damage and cancer risk in endovascular operators.

Lung cancer (LC) is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, accounting for millions of deaths annually. Its major subtypes-lung squamous carcinoma (LUSC), lung adenocarcinoma, and small-cell LC-exhibit distinct risk factors and genetic susceptibilities, necessitating the use of subtype-specific biomarkers. Two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses were conducted using protein quantitative trait loci from the UK Biobank Pharma Proteomics Project and deCODE datasets. A robust analytical framework, including reverse MR, meta-analysis, summary-data-based MR tests, and colocalization, cisMR-cML, MR.CUE and phenotype scanning analyses were used to identify proteins associated with LC risk. We conducted a systematic review to contextualize our research findings. Follow-up analyses, including pathway enrichment, protein-protein interaction network analysis, and druggability evaluations, were used to explore the mechanisms and therapeutic potential of the identified proteins. Significant proteins were validated using population-level proteomic data from the UK Biobank (UKB). The results showed that twenty-five proteins were significantly associated with LC or its subtypes, including 15 novel findings. 60S ribosomal protein L14 (RPL14) and advanced glycosylation end-product-specific receptor (AGER) emerged as the strongest discovery, demonstrating consistent and significant associations across both MR and population-level analyses. RPL14 exhibited positive associations with overall LC risk (MR_meta: odds ratio [OR]: 2.012, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.297-3.119; UKB: OR: 1.509, 95% CI: 1.015-2.244). Similarly, AGER showed significant protective effects against LUSC risk (MR_meta: OR: 0.572, 95%CI: 0.368-0.889; UKB: OR: 0.366, 95% CI: 0.158-0.850). Pathway analysis revealed the involvement of these proteins in immune regulation and tumorigenesis. Among the 13 identified druggable targets, RPL14 and AGER showed therapeutic potential as approved or investigational drugs targeting these proteins. These findings offer new insights into the pathogenesis of LC and potential therapeutic targets.

Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is evolving into a promising non-invasive approach for the detection of ALK rearrangement. This meta-analysis was designed to determine the diagnostic value of ctDNA for ALK rearrangement in lung cancer patients.

Immunotherapies achieved remarkable success in adult cancers, yet their efficacy in pediatric brain and extracranial solid tumors remains limited. Insights into the unique immune landscape of pediatric tumors are crucial to improve immunotherapies for pediatric patients.

This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the potential causal link between coffee consumption and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk via Mendelian randomization (MR) studies. Five eligible MR studies that involved the use of analytical approaches such as inverse variance weighted (IVW), MR-Egger, and weighted median methods were included. While previous observational studies suggested a protective role of coffee, the MR-based analyses in this study did not demonstrate a statistically significant association across all methods. IVW analysis yielded an odds ratio of 0.92 (95% confidence interval, 0.58 to 1.47), indicating no significant effect. Moderate to substantial heterogeneity was observed, but no publication bias was detected. These findings suggest that the previously reported inverse association may have been overestimated due to methodological limitations in observational research. Our results emphasize the importance of using genetically informed methods to infer causality, and the results indicate that coffee consumption may not causally reduce the risk of HCC.

To evaluate the association between GSTP1 rs1695 A>G polymorphism and colorectal cancer (CRC) risk in an Iranian cohort, and to validate findings through a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Small nucleolar RNA host gene 22 (SNHG22) is a novel long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) that functions as an oncogene and promotes the progression of various cancers. This pooled analysis aimed to clarify the prognostic role of SNHG22 in solid tumors and to explore its correlation with disease characteristics.

Colorectal cancer remains a major global health challenge, necessitating the development of accurate non-invasive diagnostic tools. Circulating and excretory microRNAs (miRNAs) are promising biomarkers owing to their stability and regulatory roles in tumorigenic pathways. While single miRNA assays often lack sufficient diagnostic accuracy, panels combining multiple miRNAs have shown enhanced performance. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of multi-miRNA panels and explored their mechanistic relevance to colorectal cancer pathogenesis.

Malignant histiocytoses are rare histiocytic neoplasms that exhibit aggressive clinical and histopathological features. One of these entities, Langerhans cell sarcomas (LCS), shares some histopathological features with Langerhans cell histiocytosis but is distinguished by its overtly malignant cytologic features. The literature on LCS is mostly limited to short reports and a few reviews, while a complete revision of its nosology is lacking. This study aims to fill this gap in the knowledge on LCS, explore potential prognostic factors, and propose a clinical subclassification for better patient stratification, which could guide future treatment investigations. A systematic review of the literature was conducted following PRISMA guidelines. From each included patient, a complete set of clinical and pathological features was collected. Descriptive and association statistics, as well as survival analysis, were performed using R Studio. A cohort of 88 patients was analyzed, the majority being adult males with multisystem pictures often involving skin and lymph nodes. pERK pathway gene mutations were reported in around half. Overall prognosis was poor, even though the association with another hematological neoplasm displayed a significant negative prognostic impact (p = 0.0017). Moreover, in primary cases, a significant difference was observed dividing patients into single system vs multisystem (p = 0.012). Despite treatment modalities being highly heterogeneous, statistical analyses provided insights into the relevance of treating patients according to disease spread (e.g., treating localized masses with surgery alone leads to frequent complete remission, p = 0.0002). This study provides an extensive analysis of LCS nosology and prognostic factors, underscoring the importance of distinguishing LCS from LCH and other histiocytoses, as well as adopting a unified system to define disease spread and guide therapeutic management.

BACKGROUND: More and more long non-coding RNA small nucleotide host RNA (SNHG) gene family has been confirmed to be unregulated in cervical cancer (CC) tissues, and it is significantly related to the prognosis of CC. The purpose of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis to explore the correlation between the expression level of SNHGs and the prognosis of CC. METHODS: Six relevant electronic databases were searched, relevant original documents were screened, and the research quality of each document was assessed based on the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS) scale. Relevant data were extracted including SNHG expression levels, survival outcomes and follow-up time. Hazard ratio (HR) and Odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were combined to assess the association between SNHG expression and overall survival (OS) TNM stage, tumor size, depth of invasion. The sensitivity analyzes and Begg’s test was conducted to explore potential publication bias. RESULTS: The results of pooling HR with 95%CI indicating the marked positive association between increasing SNHG expression and poor OS (HR: 2.046, 95%CI: 1.402–2.691). In addition, high SNHG expressions contribute to advanced TNM stage (OR: 1.476, 95%CI: 1.178–1.849), easier to lymph node metastasis (OR: 1.614, 95%CI: 1.021–2.553), bigger tumor size (OR: 1.299, 95%CI: 1.031–1.638). Meanwhile, an insignificant relationship was also found between high SNHGs expression and histological grade (OR: 1.053, 95%CI: 0.814–1.361), DM (OR: 1.659, 95%CI: 0.969–2.838), depth of invasion (OR: 1.126, 95%CI: 0.466–2.726) and age (OR: 1.115, 95%CI: 0.899–1.382). Sensitivity analysis suggests the reliability and robustness of OS, the results of Begg’s test indicated that there is no significant publication bias in the original literature. CONCLUSION: Most SNHGs are highly expressed in CC tissues, elevated SNHG expression predicts poor prognosis of CC, SNHG may serve as a potential target for tumor therapy and a promising prognostic marker.

This study evaluates the quality and diagnostic accuracy of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) radiomics-based prediction of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation status in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with brain metastasis.

This study aimed to systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of combination therapies with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in patients with driver gene-negative non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and liver metastases. These patients typically have poor prognosis and limited responses to immunotherapy. This study synthesized existing literature by conducting a network meta-analysis to determine the most effective first-line ICI combination regimen to guide clinical treatment decisions.

We aimed to explore the prognostic role of circulating DNA-related markers to improve clinical decision-making in patients with lung malignancies.