Previous studies showed that LAPTM4B*2 allele was associated with increased susceptibility of lung cancer [20], gastric cancer [21], colorectal cancers

[22], lymphoma [26], cervical cancer [23] and breast cancer [24]. The risk of developing these cancers were increased to 1.720, 1.710, 1.512, buy NVP-BGJ398 1.610, 1.490, and 1.301 fold in individuals carrying allele *2 in comparison with *1, respectively. In this study, the LAPTM4B *2 carrier had a 1.457-fold risk of suffering melanoma than LAPTM4B *1 carrier. Our result was consistent with previous findings. The two sequence alleles of the LAPTM4B are in homology, with the exception of a 19-bp difference in the first exon. Shao [8] showed that LAPTM4B *1 was predicted to encode a 35 kD protein. In allele *2, the extra 19-bp sequence changed open reading frame of LAPTM4B gene and made LAPTM4B*2 encode one more protein isoform, a 40-kD protein, than LAPTM4B*1 ( Figure 3). The N-terminal sequence of LAPTM4B is crucial for its functions, such as enhancing cell proliferation and signal transduction [19] and [27]. The two different protein isoforms may influence physiological activities and functions of the cancer cell [22]. Moreover, the 19-bp sequence may act as a cis-acting element

to participate in genetic transcriptional regulation. The gene mutation status of melanoma patients were also observed in this study. C-KIT and BRAF are the most common mutated genes in Asian melanomas [28] and [29]. It has been reported Selleck Trametinib that the incidence of somatic mutations within the C-KIT, BRAF, NRAS and PDGFRA genes was 10.1% (58/573), 25.9% (121/468), 7.2% (33/459) and 4.8% (17/352), respectively in Chinese melanoma cases [28] and [29]. The frequencies of C-KIT and BRAF mutation were 6.4% (11/171) and 20.5% (35/171) in this study, closing to previous studies. There was no difference between *2 allele carrier and *1 allele

carrier in C-KIT and BRAF gene mutation, nor in other clinicopathological features. Therefore, we believed that LAPTM4B was an independent risk factor in melanoma developing. To our knowledge, this is the first case-control study focusing on the possible role of LAPTM4B*2 in melanoma. We concluded that LAPTM4B*2 is likely contributing Branched chain aminotransferase to a higher risk of melanoma. Carrying LAPTM4B *2 is a susceptible factor to melanoma in Chinese patients. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81071422). We would like to thank all people and patients who participated in this study. “
“The majority of patients with pancreatic cancer present with unresectable locally advanced disease. Standard of care therapy for locally advanced pancreatic cancer includes a combination of chemotherapy and radiation therapy [1]. A challenge in the management of pancreatic cancer is the early assessment of treatment response.