Preoperative albumin-to-fibrinogen ratio predicts chemotherapy resistance and prognosis in patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer

Abstract Background Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the majority ovarian cancer (OC) type with a poor prognosis. This present study aimed to investigate potential prognostic factors including albumin-to-fibrinogen ratio (AFR) for advanced EOC patients with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) followed by debulking surgery. Methods A total of 313 advanced EOC patients with NAC followed by debulking surgery from 2010 to 2017 were enrolled. The predictive value of AFR for the overall survival (OS) was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. The univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were applied to investigate prognostic factors for advanced EOC patients. The association between preoperative AFR and progression free survival (PFS) or OS was determined via the Kaplan–Meier method using log-rank test. Results The ROC curve analysis showed that the cutoff value of preoperative AFR in predicting OS was determined to be 7.78 with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.773 (P < 0.001). Chemotherapy resistance, preoperative CA125 and AFR were independent risk factors for PFS in advanced EOC patients. Furthermore, chemotherapy resistance, residual tumor and AFR were significant risk factors for OS by multivariate Cox analysis. A low preoperative AFR (≤7.78) was significantly associated with a worse PFS and OS via the Kaplan–Meier method by log-rank test (P < 0.001). Conclusions A low preoperative AFR was an independent risk factor for PFS and OS in advanced EOC patients with NAC followed by debulking surgery

A Feedback Loop Between miR-30a/c-5p and DNMT1 Mediates Cisplatin Resistance in Ovarian Cancer Cells

Background: Many microRNAs (miRs) are dysregulated in cancers, and aberrant miR expression patterns have been suggested to correlate with chemo-resistance of cancer cells. We aim to study the role of miR-30 family members in cisplatin-resistance of ovarian cancer cells. Methods: qRT-PCR was used to compare differential expression levels of miR-30 family members in ovarian cancer cell line A2780 and its cisplatin-resistant derivative CP70. Changes of cisplatin-sensitivity in miR-30a-5p- and miR-30c-5p-overexpressed-CP70 cells and miR-30a-5p- and miR-30c-5p-inhibited-A2780 cells were examined by CCK8 assay and apoptosis analysis using flow cytometry; targets of miR-30a/c-5p were analyzed by western blotting and luciferase reporter assay; methylation regulation of pre-miR-30a/c-5p was examined by methylation specific PCR. Results: miR-30a-5p and miR-30c-5p, in contrast to other miR-30 family members, dramatically decreased in cisplatin-resistant CP70 cells due to overexpressed-DNMT1 induced aberrant methylation. miR-30a/c-5p in turn directly inhibited DNMT1 as well as Snail. Forced expression of miR-30a/c-5p or knocking down of DNMT1 and Snail promoted cisplatin susceptibility and partially reversed epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in CP70 cells, while inhibition of miR-30a/c-5p or ectopic expression of DNMT1 and Snail induced cisplatin resistance and partial EMT in cisplatin-sensitive A2780 cells. Conclusions: A feedback loop between miR-30a/c-5p and DNMT1 is a potent signature for cisplatin-resistance and EMT in ovarian cancer, promising a potential target for improved anti-cancer treatment

Typewriter in place of cow. The transformation of cultur landscape and population of the Krkonoše villiges Horní Alběřice, Dolní Alběřice a Dolní Lysečiny before and after 1945

Z hlediska konceptu tzv. velkých a politických dějin1 se údolí Albeřického a Lysečinského potoka nachází zcela na okraji. O třech vesnicích, které se rozkládají podél vodotečí po stráních údolí, nelze použít příliš mnoho objektivních superlativů. Nebylo zde ani nejstarší osídlení v Krkonoších, nepochází odtud žádná veřejně známá osobnost, neodehrála se zde žádná bitva ani setkání panovníků, není to průmyslově, zemědělsky, kulturně či turisticky věhlasné místo, zdejší obce nezanikly po odsunu původního německého obyvatelstva, ani nevykazují znaky zdevastované krajiny. Údolí je zajímavé samo o sobě, svou existencí a osudem všech lidí, kteří v něm žili a ovlivňovali krajinu, do které je zasazeno. Pro mne je údolí zajímavé a blízké i tím, že do něho patřím již 28 let. Subjektivní ponoření a osobní zaujetí pro téma je pro mne východiskem, fokus na konkrétní místo v konkrétním čase a na konkrétní lidi je páteří mé práce, respektování kritické metody pramenů je určujícím rámcem. Z této premisy vychází důraz, který kladu na osobní vzpomínky lidí, kteří v dané době v údolí žili nebo jím prošli