A review of pharmacological activity and application potential in food of tea polyphenols

Tea polyphenols(TP)is a class of polyhydroxy compounds isolated from tea.Modern biological and medical studies have shown that TP has many pharmacological activities,such as anti-inflammatory,anti-virus,anti-oxidation,anti-tumor and anti-radiation.Furthermore,these substances can be used as a potential drug component to positively guide the occurrence and development of certain diseases.Furthermore,because of the activities of TP,such as anti-oxidation and anti-bacteria,it can be applied in food preservation,color preservation,deodorization,and treatment of food processing by-products.Based on the research progress of TP in recent years,this paper summarizes the pharmacological activities of TP and expounds on its application potential in the field of food.In order to provide a theoretical reference for the research,development and utilization of TP.

Pure Mucinous Carcinoma of the Breast:a Clinicopathologic Analysis with 56 Patients

Objective To assess recent trends and prognostic features in the treatment of pure mucinous carcinoma(PMC) of the breast.Methods Fifty-six patients diagnosed with PMC of the breast in our hospital from December 1982 to June 2008 were included.We evaluated the general information and tumor characteristics of the patients,examined the relationship between these factors and prognosis.Fisher's exact test was applied to analyze tumor characteristics.Results The mean age of the patients was 53.7 years.The majority of the patients presented with early stage disease.Tumor size was found not a significant prognostic factor in this study.Mean follow-up period was 39 months and no breast cancer-related deaths were identified in the patient cohort.Conclusions PMC of the breast has a favorable prognosis.Tumor size does not appear to significantly impact survival.

Threonine and tyrosine kinase may serve as a prognostic biomarker for gallbladder cancer

AIM To detect the expression of threonine and tyrosine kinase(TTK) in gallbladder cancer(GBC) specimens and analyze the associations between TTK expression and clinicopathological parameters and clinical prognosis.METHODS A total of 68 patients with GBC who underwent surgical resection were enrolled in this study. The expression of TTK in GBC tissues was detected by immunohistochemistry. The assessment of TTKexpression was conducted using the H-scoring system. H-score was calculated by the multiplication of the overall staining intensity with the percentage of positive cells. The expression of TTK in the cytoplasm and nucleus was scored separately to achieve respective H-s c o r e v a l u e s. T h e c o r r e l a t i o n s b e t w e e n T T K expression and clinicopathological parameters and clinical prognosis were analyzed using Chi-square test, Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression.RESULTS In both the nucleus and cytoplasm, the expression of TTK in tumor tissues was significantly lower than that in normal tissues(P < 0.001 and P = 0.026, respectively). Using the median H-score as the cutoff value, it was discovered that, GBC patients with higher levels of TTK expression in the nucleus, but not the cytoplasm, had favorable overall survival(P < 0.001), and it was still statistically meaningful in Cox regression analysis. Further investigation indicated that there were close negative correlations between TTK expression and tumor differentiation(P = 0.041), CA 19-9 levels(P = 0.016), T stage(P < 0.001), nodal involvement(P < 0.001), distant metastasis(P = 0.024) and TNM stage(P < 0.001). CONCLUSION The expression of TTK in GBC is lower than that in normal tissues. Higher levels of TTK expression in GBC are concomitant with longer overall survival. TTK is a favorable prognostic biomarker for patients with GBC.

Circulating tumor DNA in lung cancer: real-time monitoring of disease evolution and treatment response

Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of all cancer-related deaths. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is released from apoptotic and necrotic tumor cells. Several sensitive techniques have been invented and adapted to quantify ctDNA genomic alterations. Applications of ctDNA in lung cancer include early diagnosis and detection, prognosis prediction, detecting mutations and structural alterations, minimal residual disease, tumor mutational burden, and tumor evolution tracking. Compared to surgical biopsy and radiographic imaging, the advantages of ctDNA are that it is a non-invasive procedure, allows real-time monitoring, and has relatively high sensitivity and specificity. Given the massive research on non-small cell lung cancer, attention should be paid to small cell lung cancer.

Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor I as a Poor Prognostic ndicator in Resectable Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Background:Plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-I)was previously established to impact several phenotypes in many kinds of cancer, including pancreatic cancer.However,its prognostic significance in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC)needs support of further evidence.This study was designed to address the issue. Methods:PAI-1 expression was detected by tissue microarray-based immunohistochemical staining in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded specimens from 93 PDAC patients with surgical resection from September 2004 to December 2008.Its relationships with clinicopathologic variables and tumor-specific survival (TSS)were further evaluated using Chi-square,Kaplan-Meier,log-rank,as well as Cox regression analyses. Results:Expression of PAI-1 was much higher in tumor than that in nontumor tissues,based on comparison of all samples and 74 matched ones (95 [47.5,180]vs.80 [45,95],Z=-2.439,P=0.015 and 100 [46.9,182.5]vs.80 [45,95],Z=-2.594,P =0.009,respectively).In addition,tumoral PAI-1 expression was positively associated with N stage (22/35 for N1 vs.21/51 for N0,x^2 =3.903,P=0.048).Univariate analyses showed that TSS of patients with high PAI-1 tumors was significantly poorer than that of those with low PAI-1 tumors (log rank value =19.00,P <0.0001).In multivariate Cox regression test,PAI-1 expression was identified as an independent predictor for long-term prognosis ofresectable PDAC (hazard ratio =2.559,95% confidence interval =1.499-4.367,P =0.001). Conclusion:These results suggest that expression of PAI-1 is upregulated in PDAC and might serve as a poor prognostic indicator.

Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 for the Differentiation of Hepatocellular Carcinoma from Cirrhosis

Background： Overexpression and constitutive activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription （STAT） 3 have been suggested in the tumorigenesis of many human cancers, including multiple carcinomas, melanoma, and lymphoma. The diagnosis ofhepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） in lobectomy specimens is usually straightforward, but distinguishing cirrhosis from well-differentiated HCC can be challenging in core biopsies. Our aims were to investigate the expression level of STAT3 and phosphorylated STAT3 （pSTAT3） in HCC and cirrhosis, and the application of STAT3 in the differential diagnosis of HCC and cirrhosis. Methods： Sixty cases were divided into three groups： patients with HCC only （Group 1）, HCC and cirrhosis （Group 2）, and cirrhosis only （Group 3）. Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue sections were stained immunohistochemically for STAT3, pSTAT3, and CD163. The values obtained from the tissue sections of each group were compared in statistical analysis. Results： STAT3 showed a high level in HCC and was a significant marker for differentiating HCC from cirrhosis （P 〈 0.0001 ）. The odds ratio between HCC and cirrhosis increased 34.4 times when the intensity of STAT3 increased by 1 level. Spearman＇s correlation and Chi-square tests also demonstrated that expression level of STAT3 did not correlate with age, gender, or the presence of a cirrhotic background. Conclusions： STAT3 staining differs significantly in HCC and cirrhosis. The findings reinforce the role of STAT3 in the tumorigenesis of HCC and provide a useful marker to differentiate HCC from cirrhosis in challenging liver biopsies.

Genome-wide 5-Hydroxymethylcytosine Profiling Analysis Identifies MAP7D1 as A Novel Regulator of Lymph Node Metastasis in Breast Cancer

Although DNA 5-hydroxymethylcytosine(5 hmC)is recognized as an important epigenetic mark in cancer,its precise role in lymph node metastasis remains elusive.In this study,we investigated how 5 hmC associates with lymph node metastasis in breast cancer.Accompanying with high expression of TET1 and TET2 proteins,large numbers of genes in the metastasis-positive primary tumors exhibit higher 5 hmC levels than those in the metastasis-negative primary tumors.In contrast,the TET protein expression and DNA 5 hmC decrease significantly within the metastatic lesions in the lymph nodes compared to those in their matched primary tumors.Through genomewide analysis of 8 sets of primary tumors,we identified 100 high-confidence metastasis-associated5 hmC signatures,and it is found that increased levels of DNA 5 hmC and gene expression of MAP7 D1 associate with high risk of lymph node metastasis.Furthermore,we demonstrate that MAP7 D1,regulated by TET1,promotes tumor growth and metastasis.In conclusion,the dynamic5 hmC profiles during lymph node metastasis suggest a link between DNA 5 hmC and lymph node metastasis.Meanwhile,the role of MAP7 D1 in breast cancer progression suggests that the metastasis-associated 5 hmC signatures are potential biomarkers to predict the risk for lymph node metastasis,which may serve as diagnostic and therapeutic targets for metastatic breast cancer.

A Clinicopathological Study on Stage Ⅰ Ovarian Adult Granulosa Cell Tumors with Recurrence within 5 Years

To the Editor:Adult granulosa cell tumor (AGCT)of the ovary is a low-grade malignant,sex cord-stromal tumor with an indolent course and late recurrence.Recurrences usually occur more than 5 years after the first treatment.[1] However,a few cases of aggressive AGCT have been reported.[2,3] We retrospectively reviewed all 213 AGCT patients at Peking Union Medical College Hospital between 2000 and 2018 and identified six Stage I cases with recurrence <5 years.The Ethics Committee of Peking Union Medical College Hospital specifically approved this study (No.S-K413),and all included patients provided written informed consent to participate in the study.