Solute carrier family 7, membrane 11 (SLC7A11) or (xCT) is a component of the cysteine-glutamate transporter, which plays a critical role in glutathione homeostasis which is important to protect cells from oxidative stress. SLC7A11 is distributed in various tissues and participates in the occurrence of a number of diseases, particularly in the pathogenesis of malignant tumors, but its role in laryngeal cancer development has not yet been clearly defined. The objective of the present study was to investigate the role of SLC7A11 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). We conducted immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR to evaluate the protein and mRNA levels of SLC7A11 in LSCC and in control tissues, respectively. The knockdown experiments were conducted with SLC7A11 short hairpin RNA (shRNA) lentivirus, and the protein and mRNA levels of SLC7A11 were assessed by RT-PCR and western blotting. The functional study of SLC7A11 in vitro was conducted by MTT assay, and the effects on the cell cycle were detected using flow cytometry. Immunohistochemical results revealed that the expression levels of SLC7A11, Ki-67 and p53 in LSCC tissues were higher than those in laryngeal dysplasia tissues. The Spearman rank correlation analysis revealed that the expression of SLC7A11 was positively correlated with the expression of p53 and Ki-67. Cox regression analysis and Kaplan-Meier plots confirmed that the expression levels of SLC7A11 were a prognostic factor for overall survival (OS) rates and postoperative recurrence of LSCC. Moreover, the functional study of SLC7A11 in vitro revealed that knockdown of SLC7A11 using shRNA inhibited cell proliferation by inducing cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase. Immunohistochemical and RT-PCR results and knockdown experiments of SLC7A11 revealed that SLC7A11 was involved in the progression of LSCC, and may provide clinical information for the evaluation of OS rates and postoperative recurrence of LSCC. Collectively, these observations suggest that SLC7A11 may be a vital biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis in human LSCC, and targeting SLC7A11 appears to be a potentially significant method for LSCC treatment.

Rapid detection and differentiation of Aspergillus and Mucorales species in fungal rhinosinusitis diagnosis are desirable, since the clinical management and prognosis associated with the two taxa are fundamentally different. We describe an assay based on a combination of broad-range PCR amplification and reverse line blot hybridization (PCR/RLB) to detect and differentiate the pathogens causing fungal rhinosinusitis, which include five Aspergillus species (A. fumigatus, A. flavus, A. niger, A. terreus, and A. nidulans) and seven Mucorales species (Mucor heimalis, Mucor racemosus, Mucor cercinelloidea, Rhizopus arrhizus, Rhizopus microsporus, Rhizomucor pusillus, and Absidia corymbifera). The assay was validated with 98 well-characterized clinical isolates and 41 clinical tissue specimens. PCR/RLB showed high sensitivity and specificity, with 100% correct identifications of 98 clinical isolates and no cross-hybridization between the species-specific probes. Results for five control isolates, Candida albicans, Fusarium solani, Scedosporium apiospermum, Penicillium marneffei, and Exophiala verrucosa, were negative as judged by PCR/RLB. The analytical sensitivity of PCR/RLB was found to be 1.8 × 10(-3) ng/μl by 10-fold serial dilution of Aspergillus genomic DNA. The assay identified 35 of 41 (85.4%) clinical specimens, exhibiting a higher sensitivity than fungal culture (22 of 41; 53.7%) and direct sequencing (18 of 41; 43.9%). PCR/RLB similarly showed high specificity, with correct identification 16 of 18 specimens detected by internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequencing and 16 of 22 detected by fungal culture, but it also has the additional advantage of being able to detect mixed infection in a single clinical specimen. The PCR/RLB assay thus provides a rapid and reliable option for laboratory diagnosis of fungal rhinosinusitis.

Gain of 3q26 is frequently observed in squamous cell carcinomas of mucosal origin, including those originating in the head and neck region. The human telomerase RNA component (hTERC) gene, which is located on chromosome 3q26, encodes for an RNA subunit of telomerase that maintains the length of telomeres through cellular divisions, and is activated in malignant diseases. The present study was designed to detect hTERC amplification in laryngeal lesions and evaluate whether this might serve as a supportive biomarker in histopathological analysis for in the diagnosis of laryngeal lesions.

Long intergenic non‑coding RNA 1614 (LINC01614) is highly expressed in several malignant tumor types, suggesting that it may act as an oncogene. However, the specific roles of LINC01614 in malignant tumors have remained elusive. To examine the expression pattern of LINC01614 in various malignancies, a comprehensive pan‑cancer analysis was performed using public databases, including 53 normal tissue types and 32 cancer datasets with samples from 9,091 patients. The results were validated using reverse transcription‑quantitative PCR analysis of tissue specimens from patients. LINC01614 expression was upregulated in most malignant tumors, thus demonstrating diagnostic potential. Furthermore, upregulation of LINC01614 was associated with poor overall survival in the majority of cases. However, the association with clinical outcome was highly cancer‑dependent; LINC01614 appeared to be an oncogene and diagnostic/prognostic biomarker in cancers of the digestive, respiratory, nervous and endocrine systems, as well as breast and head and neck cancer, but not in the cancers of the reproductive system or some of the urinary system. High LINC01614 expression was also markedly associated with the epithelial‑mesenchymal transition (EMT) and associated signaling pathways. Overall, the present results suggest that LINC01614 is an EMT‑associated oncogene that influences the metastasis and prognosis of several cancers, thus highlighting its potential as a novel diagnostic and prognostic marker.

The role of microRNAs (miRs) as possible biomarkers and therapy targets has been extensively investigated in a number of types of cancer. However, the aberrant expression of miRs in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC), particularly during the progression of the disease, is poorly understood. In the present study, the role of miRs as possible novel early pre‑diagnostic biomarkers of LSCC was investigated. TaqMan probe stem‑loop quantitative polymerase chain reaction was utilized to accurately measure the amount of miR‑148a and miR‑375 in clinical samples of mild dysplasia, moderate dysplasia, severe dysplasia, cancer in situ, laryngeal cancer and normal epithelial controls. The application of miR‑148a and miR‑375 as potential predictive biomarkers for early diagnosis of LSCC was analyzed. The results of the present study suggested that miR‑148a and miR‑375 were significantly upregulated in LSCC tissues, and increased expression of miR‑375 was associated with a more aggressive phenotype of LSCC. Additional investigation revealed that miR‑148a and miR‑375 increased during different dysplasia stages of LSCC carcinogenesis, and high‑level expression of miR‑148a or miR‑375 in patients with laryngeal dysplasia may predict subsequent malignant transformation. miR‑148a and miR‑375 were significantly upregulated during LSCC carcinogenesis and may serve as possible predictive biomarkers for early diagnosis of LSCC.