Ping Wang

Unraveling the role of tissue colonized microbiome in ovarian cancer progression

Ovarian cancer (OC) is found to be the third most common gynecologic malignancy over the world, having the highest mortality rate among such tumors. Emerging studies underscore the presence of microorganisms within tumor tissues, with certain pathogens intricately linked to disease onset and progression. Disruption of the microbiome frequently precipitates disturbances in host metabolic and immune pathways, thereby fostering the development of cancer. In this study, we initiated the investigation by conducting microbial reannotation on the RNA sequencing data derived from ovarian cancer tissues. Subsequently, a comprehensive array of analyses on tissue microbes was executed. These analyses encompassed the assessment of intergroup variations in microbial diversity, differential microbiological analysis, exploration of the association between host gene expression and microbial abundance, as well as an enrichment analysis of functional pathways linked to host genes associated with microbes. The analysis results revealed that Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes were the main components at phylum level in ovarian tissue. Notably, the microbial composition of ovarian cancer tissue significantly diverged from that of normal ovarian tissue e, exhibiting markedly lower alpha diversity and distinct beta diversity. Besides, pathogenic microorganisms Achromobacter xylosoxidans and Enterobacter hormaechei were enriched in cancer tissue. Host genes associated with these pathogens were enriched in key pathways including "JAK-STAT signaling pathway", "Transcriptional misregulation in cancer", and "Th1 and Th2 cell differentiation", suggesting their role in ovarian cancer progression through microbial dysbiosis and immune response interaction. Abundance of pathogenic microorganisms in ovarian cancer tissue could modulate the expression of host genes, consequently impacting cancer-related signaling pathways and fostering cancer progression.

Intraoperative frozen section pathology of vaginal margin in radical hysterectomy on the prognosis and quality of life for patients with IB2–IIA2 cervical cancer: study protocol for a multicenter randomized controlled trial

Several risk factors have been identified that compromise the treatment outcome in patients with early-to-mid-stage cervical cancer (CC) who are primarily treated with radical surgery. However, there is no report on the impact of intraoperative frozen pathology examination of vaginal margins on the prognosis of patients with CC. This study aimed to conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to determine whether selective vaginal resection can reduce the incidence of operative complications and the risk of postoperative radiotherapy. The impact of the length of the vagina removed in radical hysterectomy (RH) on prognosis and quality of life (QoL) for IB2-IIA2 CC patients will be investigated. A multicenter, non-inferiority, RCT at 7 institutions in China is designed to investigate the effect of intraoperative frozen pathology exam of vaginal margin in RH on the survival outcomes for patients with IB2-IIA2 CC. Eligible patients aged 18-70 years will be randomly assigned online by one-to-one random allocation to receive intraoperative frozen pathology exam of vaginal margin or not. If frozen pathology indicates positive margin, continue resection of 1 centimeter of vaginal tissue until negative margin is achieved. The primary end point is 2-year disease-free survival (DFS). Adverse events (AEs) caused by further vagina resection, 5-year DFS, 2-year overall survival (OS), 5-year OS and AEs caused by radiotherapy and QoL are secondary end points. A total of 310 patients will be enrolled from 7 tertiary hospitals in China within 3-year period and followed up for 5 years. Chinese Clinical Trial Registry Identifier: ChiCTR2000035668.