Clinical Efficacy of Yiqi Yangyin Decoction Combined with Docetaxel on Advanced Ovarian Cancer and the Effect on the Levels of Serum Markers VEGF, HE4, and CA125

Structure Elucidation of a Novel Polysaccharide Isolated from Euonymus fortunei and Establishing Its Antioxidant and Anticancer Properties

Euonymusfortunei polysaccharides (EFPs) have not been extensively investigated yet in terms of their extraction and biological activity. The orthogonal experimental design was employed in this study to evaluate the optimum yield of EFPs. A maximum yield of 2.63 ± 0.23% was attained using material-liquid ratios of 60 mL/g, extraction temperature of 80°C, ultrasonic power of 144 W, and extraction time of 75 mins. The polysaccharide content reached 53.47 ± 0.31% when deproteinized thrice. An analysis of monosaccharide composition revealed that these polysaccharides consist of Gal, Glc, Man, Fuc, and Rha with a molar ratio of 7.14 ∶ 23.99 ∶ 6.29 ∶ 6.55 ∶ 1.00, respectively, in EFPs. Subsequently, the in vitro scavenging capacities of 2,2-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ·OH and superoxide anion radicals, along with the reducing power of EFPs, were studied. Results revealed that EFPs have higher antioxidant activity, particularly ·OH scavenging, as well as reducing power, as compared to Astragalus polysaccharides (ASPs) and Lycium barbarum polysaccharides (LBPs). The Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) method was used to evaluate the effects of different concentrations of polysaccharides on SKOV3 cell proliferation, and the results revealed their inhibition at concentrations in the range of 200-800 μg/mL. In addition, findings from flow cytometry further confirmed that EFPs blocked the cell cycle at G0/G1 and S phases and induced SKOV3 cell apoptosis. In a word, EFPs could be exploited and used further based on the experimental results from this study.

Retracted: Clinical Efficacy of Yiqi Yangyin Decoction Combined with Docetaxel on Advanced Ovarian Cancer and the Effect on the Levels of Serum Markers VEGF, HE4, and CA125

[This retracts the article DOI: 10.1155/2022/8401202.].

Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Tumor Cytoreductive Surgery plus Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy for Ovarian Cancer

Objective

To assess the clinical efficacy and safety of cytoreductive surgery (CRS) plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) for ovarian cancer.

Methods

From April 2018 to November 2021, 66 patients with ovarian cancer were admitted to our hospital and randomly allocated to undergo intravenous chemotherapy following CRS (the observation group) or CRS with HIPEC (the experimental group) using a parallel randomized technique, with 33 cases in each group. Clinical effectiveness, intraoperative and postoperative recovery, VEGF level, T-lymphocyte subpopulation cell level, adverse events, and patient survival were all outcome metrics.

Results

CRS plus HIPEC was associated with significantly higher clinical efficacy versus CRS alone (P < 0.05). The difference in the intraoperative bleeding and operative time between the two groups did not meet the statistical standard (P > 0.05). Patients in the experimental group experienced shorter postoperative chemotherapy and length of hospital stay than those in the observation group (P < 0.05). CRS plus HIPEC resulted in significantly lower levels of VEGFA, VEGFB, and VEGFC and higher levels of CD3+, CD4+, and CD3+/CD4+ than CRS alone (P < 0.05). The two groups of patients had a similar incidence of adverse events (P > 0.05). The experimental group showed a longer median survival (25 months) and a 1-year survival rate (79.55%) than the observation group (22 months, 49.56%) (log rank = 20.411, P < 0.05). A significantly lower 1-year recurrence rate was observed in the experimental group than in the observation group (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

CRS plus HIPEC effectively improves the clinical efficacy of ovarian cancer patients, prolongs the survival of patients, and improves the level of VEGF and T-lymphocyte subpopulation cells, with a manageable safety. In addition, the treatment method can improve the therapeutic effect, reduce the toxic and side effects, and improve the immunity of the body, which is worthy of clinical promotion.

Integrating Network Pharmacology and Experimental Validation to Elucidate the Mechanism of Yiqi Yangyin Decoction in Suppressing Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

Yiqi Yangyin Decoction (YYD) is a classic traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formulation to treat lung cancer in clinic. Nevertheless, the active ingredients, key targets, and molecular mechanisms for YYD are still poorly understood. This study is focused on elucidating the pharmacological mechanism of YYD in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by using a combined network pharmacology approach and biological experiment validation. Online bioinformatics tools showed that 40 bioactive compounds and 229 putative targets of YYD were associated with anti-NSCLC activity. Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) network demonstrated AKT1, SRC, JUN, TP53, and EGFR as the top five key targets for YYD against NSCLC. Through enrichment analysis, YYD was found to affect cell proliferation and apoptosis in NSCLC possibly by PI3K-AKT signaling. Molecular docking confirmed a strong binding between the main compounds (quercetin or luteolin) and EGFR. As demonstrated by CCK-8, EdU, and colony formation assays, we found a significant inhibition of YYD on cell proliferation. Moreover, YYD treatment induced cell cycle arrest by affecting p53, p21, and cyclin D1 expression. YYD administration enhanced apoptosis by changing the expression of cleaved caspase-3, Bax, and Bcl-2. Mechanistically, YYD resulted in a significant inactivation of EGFR-PI3K-AKT signaling. Furthermore, EGFR activator significantly reversed YYD-mediated proliferation inhibition and apoptosis. YYD also showed an inhibitory effect on tumor growth in mice. Together, YYD might target the EGFR-PI3K-AKT pathway to repress NSCLC progression.

The pharmacological mechanism of Chinese herbs effective in treating advanced ovarian cancer: Integrated meta-analysis and network pharmacology analysis

Background: Advanced ovarian cancer (AOC) develops rapidly, adding to difficulties in treatment. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) plays a significant role in the treatment of AOC, and so to explore the efficacy and safety of TCM in the treatment of AOC and its effective targets, we performed the following review. Methods: The major databases were searched for randomized controlled trials of TCM for the treatment of AOC. A meta-analysis of the efficacy of Chinese herbs on AOC was conducted using RevMan 5.4 software. Active compounds and target genes were acquired using the TCMSP database. The main targets of AOC were obtained through the GenCards, OMIM, TTD, and DrugBank databases. A protein-protein interaction network carried out on the STRING platform was used to select core genes. The Metascape platform was applied to achieve GO and KEGG enrichment analysis. Results: A total of 24 studies were included. Meta-analysis shows the TCM group improved the overall response rate (OR = 2.71; 95% CI = [2.14, 3.44], Z = 8.25, p < 0.00001), overall survival (OR = 2.93, 95% CI = [2.03, 4.24], Z = 5.72, p < 0.00001), and progression-free survival (OR = 5.36, 95% CI = [5.03, 5.69], Z = 31.88, p < 0.00001) of AOC patients, as well as reducing many adverse events. There were 120 compounds, 246 herb target genes, and 1503 disease targets extracted. The 10 most important components were quercetin, kaempferol, 7-methoxy-2-methyl isoflavone, formononetin, isorhamnetin, hederagenin, stigmasterol, luteolin, 7-O-methylisomucronulatol, and calycosin. The 20 core targets were TP53, STAT3, JUN, AKT1, MAPK3, RELA, MAPK1, ESR1, IL6, FOS, MAPK14, TNF, CDKN1A, RB1, CCND1, EGFR, STAT1, MDM2, MAPK8, and CAV1. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that there are many pathways directly related to different types of tumors, such as in pathway cancer and prostate cancer. Conclusion: Our article reveals TCM is effective and safe against AOC and that Chinese herbs exert effects on the disease through multi-target, multi-component, and multi-pathway mechanisms. Systematic Review Registration: (www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/), identifier (CRD42022369731).