Minerva medica
-
Review
Asthma-COPD overlap syndrome: recent advances in diagnostic criteria and prognostic significance.
The term asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) overlap syndrome (ACOS) has been proposed for individuals with features of both asthma and COPD. Several attempts have been done to define ACOS on the basis of medical history, symptoms, and functional findings. The main diagnostic criteria include airflow obstruction with a strong although incomplete reversibility to bronchodilation tests, a significant exposure to cigarette or biomass smoke, and a history of atopy or asthma. ⋯ The prevalence of ACOS increases with aging, then it is relatively stable in elderly individuals (>65 years). Long-term mortality of subjects with ACOS is similar to COPD, and worse than asthma and healthy controls. Future research is still needed to improve the understanding and management of ACOS.
-
Meta Analysis
Prognostic role of autophagy-related proteins in epithelial ovarian cancer: a meta-analysis of observational studies.
Autophagy has been reported to play important roles in tumorigenesis. This meta-analysis was conducted in order to investigate the association between autophagy-related proteins, beclin 1 and LC3, with prognostic value and clinical characteristics of ovarian cancer. ⋯ Autophagy-related proteins might be important markers of ovarian cancer progression. However, due to the limited number of original studies, more well-designed, large-scale, high-quality studies are needed, which provide new, valuable information for further investigation.
-
Review Meta Analysis
The effect of prediabetes on hepatocellular carcinoma risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Some studies suggested an increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk in subjects with prediabetes, whereas other studies have reported negative results. Therefore, we did this meta-analysis to assess the role of prediabetes on HCC risk. ⋯ In conclusion, this meta-analysis demonstrated that prediabetes might be a risk factor of HCC.
-
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play key roles in tumor development and progression. The aim of this study was to explore the expression levels of miR-34a and miR-217 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to further investigate the clinicopathological and prognostic value of miR-34a and miR-217. ⋯ Our data showed that downregulation of miR-34a and miR-217 was associated with HCC progression and both of them may act as tumor suppressor in HCC.