Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary hepatic malign-ancy in clinic. The prognosis of patients remains extremely poor because of the high malignancy and easy recurrence and metastasis of HCC. In recent years, the roles of platelets in promoting the malignant progression of HCC have increasingly attracted much attention. It is known that platelets could promote HCC cells proliferation and invasion through tumor microenvironment. On the other hand, platelets are capable to promote HCC cells distant metastasis by facilitating tumor cells evasion of immune surveillance. Besides, the platelet-derived growth factors and proangiogenic factors are also involved in the proliferation, invasiveness, and neovascularization of HCC. In addition, patients with HCC normally have a background of cirrhosis, and it is still controversial that whether the thrombocytopenia by portal hypertension and hypersplenism can promote the malignant progress of HCC. In view of this, the diagnostic and prognostic value of platelet levels, as well as platelet-associated scores in HCC have increasingly become research focus. The authors elaborate the detailed mechanisms of platelets in malignant progression of HCC, and discuss the recent research progress of platelets as effective diagnostic or prognostic tools for the assessment of HCC, which is of great importance to optimize the current treatment regimen and explore novel therapeutic strategies against HCC.

ObjectiveTo observe the clinical effect of modified Yinqiaosan combined with antibiotics in the treatment of acute tonsillitis in children with wind-heat invading lung syndrome. MethodA total of 96 children with acute tonsillitis of wind-heat invading the lung syndrome were randomized into control group and observation group. The control group was treated with routine antibiotics， and the observation group was treated with modified Yinqiaosan and antibiotics for 7 days. The scores of major symptoms （sore throat， erythmatous throat， dysphagia， erythmatous tonsils and suppuration） and minor symptoms （fever， cough， stool， and tongue） and the levels of inflammation- and immune-related indexes ［white blood cell （WBC）， C-reactive protein （CRP）， serum amyloid A （SAA）， interleukin-6 （IL-6）， and interferon-γ （IFN-γ）］ were compared between two groups. ResultThe data of 92 children were statistically analyzed： 45 in the observation group and 47 cases in the control group. The total clinical effective rate of the observation group was 95.56%， as compared with the 93.62% of the control group. After treatment， the scores of major symptoms in the observation group were lower than those in the control group （P<0.05）， and the scores of cough， defecation， and tongue in the observation group were lower than those in the control group （P<0.05）. The levels of inflammation- and immune-related indexes after treatment in the observation group were lower than those before treatment （P<0.05）. Except IFN-γ， the levels of the inflammation- and immune-related indexes in the control group were lower than those before treatment （P<0.05）. After treatment， the levels of SAA and IL-6 in the observation group were lower than those in the control group （P<0.05）. ConclusionModified Yinqiaosan combined with antibiotics can significantly reduce the expression of SAA and IL-6 in the treatment of children with acute tonsillitis， thereby alleviating inflammation and clinical symptoms and improving prognosis.