Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), the most abundant catechin in green tea, possesses various biomedical activities and has garnered significant attention because of its notable anticancer properties. This article reviews the research progress on the antitumor mechanisms of EGCG, focusing on its roles in inducing tumor cell apoptosis; inhibiting tumor cell proliferation, angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis; modulating the tumor microenvironment; and influencing epigenetic modifications. Given its natural origin, safety, and low cost, EGCG could be a preferred option for the development of new cancer therapeutic drugs or enhancing the efficacy of combination therapies. This work aims to provide a theoretical foundation for further research and development of EGCG and scientific evidence for its application in cancer prevention and treatment.

Objective:To investigate the effect of preoperative radiotherapy on postoperative recurrence in central hepatocellular carcinoma patients treated by hepatectomy.Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted. Clinicopathological data of 142 patients with central hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent surgical treatment at the Cancer Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College from January 2016 to January 2019 were retrospectively collected. According to whether they received preoperative radiotherapy or not, the patients were divided into preoperative radiotherapy group (30 cases) and surgery-only group (112 cases). The main observation indexes were recurrence-free survival (RFS), intraoperative bleeding amount, operation time and the occurrence of postoperative complications. Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis, and log-rank test was used for intergroup comparisons; the differences between the two groups for each factor were evaluated by standardized mean difference (SMD); Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze the influencing factors of RFS in central hepatocellular carcinoma patients with hepatectomy. Propensity score matching (PSM), regression model-adjusted propensity score (CAPS) and inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) methods were used to investigate the relationship between exposure factors and confounding variables and RFS. Sensitivity analysis was performed using E-value to assess the potential impact of unmeasured confounders on outcomes.Results:Men comprised 96.7% (29/30) and 87.5% (98/112) of the preoperative radiotherapy and surgery-only groups, with ages of (55±10) years old and (54±12) years old, respectively. Before matching by the PSM method, there were differences in gender, proportion of patients with hepatitis C, alanine aminotransferase, serum albumin, alpha-fetoprotein, satellite nodules by postoperative pathology, and number of tumors between the two groups (all SMD > 0.1). A total of 26 pairs of patients were successfully matched, and there was no difference in baseline characteristics between the preoperative radiotherapy group and the surgery-only group after matching (all SMD < 0.1). Univariate Cox regression analysis showed that preoperative radiotherapy, number of tumors, maximum diameter of tumor, and satellite nodules by postoperative pathology were the influencing factors of RFS (all P < 0.05); multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that preoperative radiotherapy was an independent protective factor of RFS in central hepatocellular carcinoma patients with hepatectomy ( HR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.31-0.97, P = 0.038), and maximum diameter of tumor ( HR = 1.08, 95% CI: 1.02-1.15, P = 0.005) and satellite nodules by postoperative pathology ( HR = 1.97, 95% CI: 1.21-3.19, P = 0.006) were independent risk factors of RFS. Preoperative radiotherapy was associated with superior RFS in patients with central hepatocellular carcinoma (PSM, HR = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.20-0.86, P = 0.018; CAPS, HR = 0.42, 95% CI: 0.20-0.87, P = 0.019; IPTW, HR = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.22-0.76, P = 0.005). Before matching, the 1-, 3-, and 5-year postoperative RFS rates in the preoperative radiotherapy group were 77%, 56% and 45%, respectively, and the surgery-only group were 48%, 32% and 28%, respectively. RFS in the preoperative radiotherapy group was superior to that in the surgery-only group before and after matching ( χ2 = 5.65, P = 0.017; χ2 = 6.00, P = 0.014). The E-value for unmeasured confounders altering the conclusions was 2.39, suggesting reliable and stable results. After matching, intraoperative bleeding [ M ( Q1, Q3)] for patients in the preoperative radiotherapy group and the surgery-only group was 300 ml (125 ml, 600 ml) and 400 ml (200 ml, 600 ml), respectively ( U = 0.51, P = 0.611), and the proportions of patients with the operation time >180 min were 92.3% (24/26) and 84.6% (22/ 26), respectively ( χ2 = 0.75, P = 0.385), and the rates of mild postoperative complications were 100.0% (26/26) and 92.3% (24/26), respectively ( χ2 = 2.08, P = 0.149), the differences were not statistically significant. Conclusions:Preoperative radiotherapy for hepatectomy in patients with central hepatocellular carcinoma is safe and effective, and has the advantage of reducing postoperative recurrence.

Liver is an organ with strong regenerative potential. After trauma, infection, surgery and so on, it will initiate a series of regulation for orderly regeneration to rapidly restore liver function and liver volume and thus maintain normal physiological function. This article summarizes the process of liver regeneration after hepatectomy, the evaluation methods for liver regeneration and the factors affecting liver regeneration, so as to provide references for clinical precision liver surgical treatment.

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) with inferior vena cava thrombosis is rare and has a poor prognosis, and the current literature overwhelmingly supports aggressive surgical intervention. This article summarizes the management of a patient with ACC with inferior vena cava thrombosis, and discusses the feasibility of detailed preoperative imaging data and intraoperative ultrasound to assess the superior and inferior boundaries of ACC with inferior vena cava thrombosis, while describing the intraoperative ultrasound-guided surgical planning and procedure for ACC with retrohepatic inferior vena cava tumor thrombus. Furthermore, it also demonstrates that it is feasible to accurately assess the superior and inferior boundaries of ACC with inferior vena cava thrombosis by preoperative multimodal imaging and intraoperative ultrasound, determine the mode of flow blockage during the operation, and obtain radical resection of the tumor.

Objective:To explore the clinical effect of laparoscopic anatomical hepatic segment Ⅷ (S8) resection.Methods:Of 16 patients with liver cancer who underwent laparoscopic anatomical hepatic S8 resection at the National Cancer Center from October 2020 to October 2022 were were enrolled, including 13 males and 3 females, aged (59.1±10.9) years. The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, occurrence of intraoperative blood transfusion, and postoperative complications were retrospectively analyzed. Recurrence and survival were followed up by outpatient and telephone reviews.Results:Laparoscopic anatomical hepatic S8 resection was successfully performed in 16 patients without conversion to laparotomy. Among them, 10 patients underwent the intraoperative ultrasound guided hepatic parenchymal approach, and 6 underwent laparoscopic Glissonean pedicle puncture for the positive staining of S8 using indocyanine green. The operation time was (274.8±82.8) min, and the intraoperative blood loss was [ M( Q1, Q3)] 100.0 (50.0, 200.0) ml. There were no intraoperative blood transfusion or postoperative complication. The drainage tube was successfully removed and the patients were discharged 5 to 7 days after surgery. The patients were followed up for 5 to 24 months and all survived. Two patients had tumor recurrence. Conclusion:Laparoscopic anatomical S8 resection is safe and feasible.

Objective:To investigate the long-term outcome of centrally located hepatocellular carcinoma treated by radical resection and adjuvant radiotherapy(RT).Methods:A retrospective study was used to collect and analyze the clinical and pathological data of 193 patients with centrally located HCC who underwent surgery from Jun 2015 to Jun 2020. According to whether RT was used, these patients were allocated into liver resection (LR) combined RT (88 cases) and LR alone group (105 cases).Results:The 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS rates were 98%, 85%, and 74% for patients in the LR+RT group, and 79%, 66%, and 59% for patients in the LR group, respectively. The 1-, 3-, 5-year RFS rates were 76%, 55% and 44% for patients in the LR+RT group, and 51%, 40%, and 37% for patients in the LR group, respectively. OS and RFS was significantly different in LR+RT group compared with that in LR group (χ 2=5.825, P=0.016;χ 2=5.230, P=0.022, respectively). Cox analysis showed that RT was the independent prognostic factor for centrally located HCC in OS and RFS ( P=0.009, P=0.017, respectively). Subgroup analysis suggested that RT could reduce early recurrence ( HR=0.41,95% CI:0.21-0.80, P=0.002). Conclusion:Liver resection combined with adjuvant radiotherapy for centrally located HCC is safe and effective.

Objective:To investigate the long-term outcome of centrally located hepatocellular carcinoma with microvascular invasion(MVI)after radical resection.Methods:A retrospective cohort study was used to collect and analyze the clinical and pathological data of 81 patients with centrally located HCC who underwent surgery in the Cancer Hospital Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from January 2016 to January 2018. According to the classification of MVI, patients were divided into 41 low-level group (MVI M1) and 40 high-level group (MVI M2). The 1, 3, 5-year OS and relapse free survival were calculated in all patients. The main outcomes were overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS) and postoperative complications. OS and DFS of patients was estimated using Kaplan-Meier method and the difference between groups was assessed using Log-rank test. COX proportional-hazards regression models were used to estimate the association between exposure factors and prognosis. The measurement data of normal distribution were expressed by mean±standard deviation ( ± s), and t-test was used for comparison between the two groups. Measurement data with non-normal distribution were represented by M ( Q1, Q3), and rank sum test was used for comparison between the two groups.Chi-square test was used for comparison between the two groups of count data. Results:The 1-, 3-, 5-year OS and relapse free survival were 88%, 76%, 73%, and 57%, 42%, 27% for all 81 centrally located HCC patients, respectively. The DFS and OS of the MVI M1 group were 26(11, 39) months and 36(25, 53) months, respectively, and the MVI M2 group were 9(4, 29) months and 22(10, 45)months, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.05). In survival analysis, OS and DFS was significantly different in MVI M1 group compared with that in MVI M2 group ( HR=4.69, 95% CI: 1.539-14.286, P=0.0027; HR=1.92, 95% CI: 1.111-3.333, P=0.016). The incidence of postoperative mild complications in the MVI M1 group and the MVI M2 group was 95.1% and 90.0%, respectively. There was no significant difference between the two groups ( P=0.379). Cox analysis showed that MVI M2 was the independent prognostic factors for centrally located HCC in OS and DFS ( P<0.05). Conclusion:Surgical treatment for centrally located HCC with MVI is safe and effective, and MVI classification is an independent risk factor for its prognosis.

Animals ; Antlers ; Exosomes ; Mesenchymal Stem Cells ; Osteoarthritis/therapy*

Aging-induced changes in the immune system are associated with a higher incidence of infection and vaccination failure. Lymph nodes, which filter the lymph to identify and fight infections, play a central role in this process. However, careful characterization of the impact of aging on lymph nodes and associated autoimmune diseases is lacking. We combined single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) with flow cytometry to delineate the immune cell atlas of cervical draining lymph nodes (CDLNs) of both young and old mice with or without experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU). We found extensive and complicated changes in the cellular constituents of CDLNs during aging. When confronted with autoimmune challenges, old mice developed milder EAU compared to young mice. Within this EAU process, we highlighted that the pathogenicity of T helper 17 cells (Th17) was dampened, as shown by reduced GM-CSF secretion in old mice. The mitigated secretion of GM-CSF contributed to alleviation of IL-23 secretion by antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and may, in turn, weaken APCs' effects on facilitating the pathogenicity of Th17 cells. Meanwhile, our study further unveiled that aging downregulated GM-CSF secretion through reducing both the transcript and protein levels of IL-23R in Th17 cells from CDLNs. Overall, aging altered immune cell responses, especially through toning down Th17 cells, counteracting EAU challenge in old mice.
Aging ; Animals ; Autoimmune Diseases ; Disease Models, Animal ; Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor/metabolism* ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Th17 Cells/metabolism* ; Uveitis/pathology* ; Virulence

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors in China. Surgery is the most important way to treat HCC currently. The high recurrence rate after hepatectomy is the most important reason to affect its prognosis, and it is also the key clinical problem to be solved. According to the recurrence time, the recurrence can be divided into early recurrence and late recurrence. The prognosis of patients with early recurrence is worse than that of patients with late recurrence. Therefore, it is very important for surgical decision-making to identify the two kinds of recurrence. This article reviews the research progress of early recurrence cut-off time of hepatocellular carcinoma after radical hepatectomy.