Tumors are surrounded by complex environmental components, including blood and lymph vessels, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, immune cells, cytokines, extracellular vesicles, and extracellular matrix. All the stromal components together with the tumor cells form the tumor microenvironment (TME). In addition, extracellular physical and chemical factors, including extracellular pH, hypoxia, elevated interstitial fluid pressure, and fibrosis, are closely associated with tumor progression, metastasis, immunosuppression, and drug resistance. Cellular and extracellular components in TME contribute to nearly all procedures of carcinogenesis. By summarizing the recent work in this field, we make a comprehensive review on the role of cellular and extracellular components in the process of carcinogenesis and their potential application in early diagnosis of cancer. We hope that a systematic review of the diverse aspects of TME will help both research scientists and clinicians in this field.

Ethyl pyruvate (EP) is a simple derivative of pyruvic acid, which is an important endogenous metabolite that can scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS). Treatment with EP is able to ameliorate systemic inflammation and multiple organ dysfunctions in multiple animal models, such as acute pancreatitis, alcoholic liver injury, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), acute viral myocarditis, acute kidney injury and sepsis. Recent studies have demonstrated that prolonged treatment with EP can ameliorate experimental ulcerative colitis and slow multiple tumor growth. It has become evident that EP has pharmacological anti-inflammatory effect to inhibit multiple early inflammatory cytokines and the late inflammatory cytokine HMGB1 release, and the anti-tumor activity is likely associated with its anti-inflammatory effect. EP has been tested in human volunteers and in a clinical trial of patients undergoing cardiac surgery in USA and shown to be safe at clinical relevant doses, even though EP fails to improve outcome of the heart surgery, EP is still a promising agent to treat patients with multiple inflammatory organ injuries and the other clinical trials are on the way. This review focuses on how EP is able to ameliorate multiple organ injuries and summarize recently published EP investigations.

Early diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) is clinically critical but technically challenging, especially in a minimal-invasive way. Emerging evidence suggests that exosome-encapsulated microRNAs (miRNAs) is a kind of promising cancer biomarker. Here we investigated the predictive potential of exosomal miR-92b in plasma samples obtained from 114 participants [40 CRC, 22 colorectal adenomas (CA), 52 non-neoplasm controls (NC)] by RT-qPCR. We found that exosomal miR-92b level was significantly down-regulated in CRC patients compared with CA and NC patients, especially in CRC at stage II, regardless of lymph node metastasis and invasive depth. The AUC in distinguishing CRC, CA and NC from each other ranged from 0.631 to 0.793, while a higher AUC of 0.830 was achieved in differentiating CRC at clinical stage II/III from NC individuals. Additionally, a logistic model integrating miR-92b with age showed a significantly improved accuracy in distinguishing CRC patients from NC (AUC increased from 0.793 to 0.867). Taken together, our findings indicated that decreased expression of exosome-derived miR-92b in plasma is a promising biomarker for early detection of CRC.

Background Patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) are at increased risk of both hepatic and extrahepatic adverse outcomes. However, the evidence regarding lean MASLD and its prognosis remains controversial. Objective To comprehensively investigate the long-term prognosis of lean patients with MASLD versus non-lean MASLD in Western and Asian populations. Design This prospective multicohort study included 153 192 patients with MASLD from UK Biobank (UKB), 29 700 from Kailuan cohort and 3329 from China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB). Lean MASLD was defined as body mass index (BMI)<23 kg/m² in Kailuan and CKB and <25 kg/m² in UKB. Primary endpoints were liver-related events (LREs), all-cause mortality, liver-related mortality (LRM), cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, CVD, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and extrahepatic cancer. Results Overall, 181 191 non-lean and 5030 lean patients with MASLD were included. During a median of 14.2-year follow-up (median 14.1, 14.8 and 13.4 years in UKB, Kailuan and CKB), 2501 incident LREs, 22 482 all-cause deaths, 28 722 incident CVD cases, 326 HCC and 25 258 extrahepatic cancer cases were identified, with 375 LRM and 4511 CVD deaths. Pooled analysis of three cohorts showed lean MASLD had higher risks of LREs (HR=2.14; 95% CI 1.27 to 3.62), all-cause mortality (HR=1.26; 95% CI 1.14 to 1.39), LRM (HR=2.31; 95% CI 1.54 to 3.46) and CVD mortality (HR=1.22; 95% CI 1.05 to 1.41). By contrast, lean MASLD exhibited comparable HCC risk (HR=1.76; 95% CI 0.84 to 3.71) and extrahepatic cancer risk (HR=1.14; 95% CI 0.88 to 1.48), but reduced CVD risk (HR=0.89; 95% CI 0.83 to 0.95) versus non-lean MASLD. Conclusion Lean patients with MASLD have worse liver outcomes and greater risk of all-cause mortality, but similar risk of HCC and extrahepatic cancer, and lower CVD risk.

Background: Acetaminophen (APAP) overdose induces massive hepatocyte necrosis. Necrotic tissue releases high mobility group B1 (HMGB1), and HMGB1 contributes to liver injury. Even though blockade of HMGB1 does not protect against APAP-induced acute liver injury (ALI) at 9 h time point, the later time points are not studied and the role of HMGB1 in APAP overdose is unknown, it is possible that neutralization of HMGB1 might improve hepatocyte regeneration. This study aims to test whether blockade of HMGB1 improves hepatocyte regeneration after APAP overdose. Methods: Male C57BL/6 mice were treated with a single dose of APAP (350 mg/kg). 2 hrs after APAP administration, the APAP challenged mice were randomized to receive treatment with either anti-HMGB1 antibody (400 μg per dose) or non-immune (sham) IgG every 24 hours for a total of 2 doses. Results: 24 hrs after APAP injection, anti-HMGB1 therapy instead of sham IgG therapy significantly improved hepatocyte regeneration microscopically; 48 hrs after APAP challenge, the sham IgG treated mice showed 14.6% hepatic necrosis; in contrast, blockade of HMGB1 significantly decreased serum transaminases (ALT and AST), markedly reduced the number of hepatic inflammatory cells infiltration and restored liver structure to nearly normal; this beneficial effect was associated with enhanced hepatic NF-κB DNA binding and increased the expression of cyclin D1, two important factors related to hepatocyte regeneration. Conclusion: HMGB1 impairs hepatocyte regeneration after APAP overdose; Blockade of HMGB1 enhances liver recovery and may present a novel therapy to treat APAP overdose.