The incidence of malignant melanoma, a highly fatal skin tumor, is on the rise worldwide. Melanomas are highly aggressive and have strong metastatic capability that leads to lethality. Recurrence occurs in patients with distant metastases, even with the latest treatments, and median survival is only a few months. At present, the prevention and treatment of melanoma includes surgical resection, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and targeted therapy. However, these strategies can lead to drug resistance and adverse effects. In recent years, an increasing number of studies have found that natural products have effective anti-melanoma activities, including inhibition of tumor growth, induction of cell apoptosis, inhibition of angiogenesis and metastasis and toxicity to tumor stem cells. In addition, several studies have reported that the combination of natural products and traditional anti-melanoma drugs can enhance the therapeutic efficacy. In this review we summarize the prevention and treatment of melanoma with natural products.

OBJECTIVETo isolate and elucidate the constituents from the roots of Commercial Ginseng.

METHODColumn chromatography and HPLC were used to isolate chemical constituents. Physico-chemical characters and spectr-oscopic analysis were employed for structural identification.

RESULTSixteen compounds were identified as: notoginsenoside-R2(1), ginsenoside-Rg2(2), 20 (R)-Rg2 (3), ginsenoside-Rg1 (4), -Rf(5), -Re(6), -Rd(7), -Rc(8), -Rb1(9), -Rb2(10), -Rb3(11), -Ra3(12), -Ra2(13), -Ra1 (14), notoginsenoside-R4(15) and ginsenoside -Ro(16).

CONCLUSIONCompound 1 was obtained from the plant for the first time.

Ginsenosides ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Panax ; chemistry ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry

Objective:To explore the application value of urine γ-synuclein (SNCG) in the diagnosis of bladder cancer.Methods:A total of urine samples from 129 patients with bladder cancer (malignant lesion group), 157 patients with urinary system benign lesions (benign lesion group), and 177 healthy people (the healthy control group) from January 2017 to April 2020 in the Fifth Clinical Medical College of Shanxi Medical University and Shanxi Provincial Cancer Hospital were collected. The concentration of SNCG in the collected urine was detected by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to determine its sensitivity, specificity and accuracy for the diagnosis of bladder cancer.Results:The urine SNCG concentration in malignant lesion group [4.28 ng/ml (0.53-8.79 ng/ml)] was higher than that in healthy controls [1.44 ng/ml (0.56-3.51) ng/ml, H = 122.9, P < 0.01] and benign lesion group [1.97 ng/ml (0.51-5.87) ng/ml, H = 88.2, P < 0.01], and the concentration of urine SNCG in benign lesion group was higher than that in healthy controls ( H = 17.1, P < 0.01). ROC area under the curve (AUC) of urine SNCG in differentiating benign lesion group from healthy controls was 0.871(95% CI 0.819-0.923, P < 0.01), the best cut-off value was 2.79 ng/ml, the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity was 0.798 and 0. 977, respectively. AUC of urine SNCG in differentiating malignant lesion group from benign lesion group was 0.823(95% CI 0.769-0.877, P < 0.01), the best cut-off value was 3.54 ng/ml, the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity was 0.713 and 0.917, respectively. AUC of urine SNCG in differentiating malignant lesion group from healthy controls plus benign lesion group was 0.848 (95% CI 0.797-0.899, P < 0.01), the best cut-off value was 2.87 ng/ml, the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity was 0.791 and 0.901, respectively. Conclusions:The concentration of SNCG in urine of patients with bladder cancer is higher than that of patients with benign urinary lesions and healthy people. Urine SNCG has a good application value in the diagnosis of bladder cancer.

Objective:To retrospectively analyze the regularity and risk factors of skip metastasis (central lymph node negative and lat-eral lymph node positive) in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Methods:A total of 521 PTC patients underwent total thyroidectomy and central plus lateral lymph node dissection at The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from January 2013 to De-cember 2016. Clinicopathological characteristics of the patients were collected and analyzed. Results:Skip metastasis rate of PTC was 8.3％(43/521). Tumors in the upper lobe (OR=3.401, 95％CI:1.770-6.536;P=0.001) and in the lateral part (OR=3.424, 95％CI:1.182-9.920;P=0.023) of the thyroid, as well as age above 45 (OR=2.856, 95％CI:1.488-5.482;P=0.002), were independent risk factors for skip metastases for this disease. Clinically node-negative (cN0) PTC patients with tumors in the upper lobe had higher possibility of skip metastases than those with clinically involved lateral neck nodes(cN1b) (P=0.022). Conclusion:Skip metastasis of PTC is not un-common. Thus, preoperative clinical assessment and imaging examination for lateral lymph node is necessary, especially for PTC pa-tients who are above 45 years old and with tumors in the upper lobe and/or unilateral area of thyroid. The lateral lymph node dissec-tion should be performed when necessary.

Objective To analyze the effect of missing data in population based viral load (PVL) survey in HIV infected men who have sex with men (MSM) sampled in 16 cities in China.Methods The database of 3 virus load sampling survey conducted consecutively in HIV infected MSM population in 16 large cities (Beijing,Shanghai,Nanjing,Hangzhou,Wuhan,Chongqing,Kunming,Xi' an,Guangzhou,Shenzhen,Narning,Urumuqi,Harbin,Changchun,Chengdu and Tianjin) during 2013-2015 was used.SPSS 17.0 software was used to describe distribution of the missing data and analyze associated factors.Results A total of 12 150 HIV infected MSM were randomly selected for the surveys,in whom,9 141 (75.2％) received virus load tests,while 3 009 (24.8％) received no virus load tests,whose virus load data missed.The virus load data missing rates in MSM with or without access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) were 11.5％ (765/6 675) and 39.4％ (2 060/5 223) respectively,and the virus load data missing rates were 21.9％ (1 866/8 523) and 28.4％ (959/3 374),respectively,in local residents and non-local residents (migrants).Conclusions The analysis indicated that the data missing occurred in the virus load survey in HIV infected MSM population.ART status and census registering status were the main influencing factors.Data missing could influence the accurate evaluation of community viral load (CVL) and population viral load (PVL) levels in HIV infected MSM in China.