Numerous studies have highlighted that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) can bind to microRNA (miRNA) sites as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs), thereby affecting and regulating the expression of mRNAs and target genes. These lncRNA-associated ceRNAs have been theorized to play a significant role in cancer initiation and progression. However, the roles and functions of the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA network in squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue (SCCT) are still unclear. The miRNA, mRNA and lncRNA expression profiles from 138 patients with SCCT were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. We identified the differential expression of miRNAs, mRNAs, and lncRNAs using the limma package of R software. We used the clusterProfiler package for GO and KEGG pathway annotations. The survival package was used to estimate survival analysis according to the Kaplan-Meier curve. Finally, the GDCRNATools package was used to construct the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA network. In total, 1943 SCCT-specific mRNAs, 107 lncRNAs and 100 miRNAs were explored. Ten mRNAs (CSRP2, CKS2, ADGRG6, MB21D1, GMNN, RIPOR3, RAD51, PCLAF, ORC1, NAGS), 9 lncRNAs (LINC02560, HOXC13 − AS, FOXD2 − AS1, AC105277.1, AC099850.3, STARD4 − AS1, SLC16A1 − AS1, MIR503HG, MIR100HG) and 8 miRNAs (miR − 654, miR − 503, miR − 450a, miR − 379, miR − 369, miR − 190a, miR − 101, and let−7c) were found to be significantly associated with overall survival (log-rank p < 0.05). Based on the analysis of the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA network, one differentially expressed (DE) lncRNA, five DEmiRNAs, and three DEmRNAs were demonstrated to be related to the pathogenesis of SCCT. In this study, we described the gene regulation by the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA network in the progression of SCCT. We propose a new lncRNA-associated ceRNA that could help in the diagnosis and treatment of SCCT.

Because of medical advances, metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is now viewed as a chronic disease, rather than an imminent death sentence. Helping women live with this disease requires more than a medical approach to symptoms. Thus, a mentor-based and supportive-expressive program ‘Be Resilient to Breast Cancer’ (BRBC) was designed to help Chinese women with MBC enhance their resilience levels, biopsychosocial functions, and potentially extend their life span. A total of 226 women with MBC were randomly assigned, in a 1 : 1 ratio, to an intervention group (IG) that participated in BRBC or to a control group (CG) that received no intervention. Be Resilient to Breast Cancer was conducted for 120 min once a week. Primary outcomes were cancer-specific survival and secondary outcomes were resilience, Allostatic Load Index (ALI), anxiety, depression, and quality of life (QoL). The Cox proportional-hazards model was used for survival analysis and growth mixture models were performed for secondary outcomes. Be Resilient to Breast Cancer did not significantly prolong 3- or 5-year survival (median survival, 36.7 months in IG and 31.5 months in CG). The hazard ratio for death was 0.736 (95% CI, 0.525–1.133, P=0.076; univariate Cox model) and 0.837 (95% CI, 0.578–1.211, P=0.345; multivariate Cox analysis). The IG improved in anxiety (ES=0.85, P<0.001), depression (ES=0.95, P<0.001), QoL (ES=0.55, P<0.001), resilience (ES=0.67, P<0.001), and ALI (ES=0.90, P<0.001) compared to CG. BRBC does not improve survival of women with MBC in this study, though longer follow up is warranted. It positively impacts resilience, QoL, ALI, and emotional distress.

This study was designed to estimate the associations between self-efficacy and professional identity. A total of 1,051 freshmen nursing students (FNSs) from the Be Resilient to Nursing Career (BRNC) program were recruited from four universities between September and November 2020. A latent profile and moderated meditation analysis were performed. Four profiles of self-efficacy were identified and named as Lowest (15.6%), Med-low (45.0%), Med-high (32.7%), and Highest (6.7%). The mediating role of resilience and the moderating effect of role models were also identified. Therefore, self-efficacy, resilience, and role models may be three important factors to professional identity in FNSs and these relationships should be further validated in longitudinal or interventional studies.