Malaria is still the most widespread parasitic disease and causes the most infections globally. Owing to improvements in sanitary conditions and various intervention measures, including the use of antimalarial drugs, the malaria epidemic in many regions of the world has improved significantly in the past 10 years. However, people living in certain underdeveloped areas are still under threat. Even in some well-controlled areas, the decline in malaria infection rates has stagnated or the rates have rebounded because of the emergence and spread of drug-resistant malaria parasites. Thus, new malaria control methods must be developed. As the spread of the Plasmodium parasite is dependent on the part of its life cycle that occurs in mosquitoes, to eliminate the possibility of malaria infections, transmission-blocking strategies against the mosquito stage should be the first choice. In fact, after the gametocyte enters the mosquito body, it undergoes a series of transformation processes over a short period, thus providing numerous potential blocking targets. Many research groups have carried out studies based on targeting the blocking of transmission during the mosquito phase and have achieved excellent results. Meanwhile, the direct killing of mosquitoes could also significantly reduce the probability of malaria infections. Microorganisms that display complex interactions with Plasmodium, such as Wolbachia and gut flora, have shown observable transmission-blocking potential. These could be used as a biological control strategy and play an important part in blocking the transmission of malaria.

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans. It begins with a bite from an infected femaleAnophelesmosquito and leads to the development of the pre-erythrocytic and blood stages. Blood-stage infection is the exclusive cause of clinical symptoms of malaria. In contrast, the pre-erythrocytic stage is clinically asymptomatic and could be an excellent target for preventive therapies. Although the robust host immune responses limit the development of the liver stage, malaria parasites have also evolved strategies to suppress host defenses at the pre-erythrocytic stage. This paper reviews the immune evasion strategies of malaria parasites at the pre-erythrocytic stage, which could provide us with potential targets to design prophylactic strategies against malaria.

Melanoma is the most aggressive malignant skin tumor and arises from melanocytes. The resistance of melanoma cells to various treatments results in rapid tumor growth and high mortality. As a local therapeutic modality, photodynamic therapy has been successfully applied for clinical treatment of skin diseases. Photodynamic therapy is a relatively new treatment method for various types of malignant tumors in humans and, compared to conventional treatment methods, has fewer side effects, and is more accurate and non-invasive. Although several in vivo and in vitro studies have shown encouraging results regarding the potential benefits of photodynamic therapy as an adjuvant treatment for melanoma, its clinical application remains limited owing to its relative inefficiency. This review article discusses the use of photodynamic therapy in melanoma treatment as well as the latest progress made in deciphering the mechanism of tolerance. Lastly, potential targets are identified that may improve photodynamic therapy against melanoma cells.

Background: Chemotherapy is still the primary adjuvant strategy of cancer therapy; however, the emergence of multi-drug resistance has been a cause for concern. Autophagy has been demonstrated to have a protective role against chemotherapeutic drugs in cancer cells, and autophagy inhibition is generally considered to be a promising therapeutic strategy. However, the paucity of effective and specific autophagy inhibitors limits its application. Purpose: The objective of this study was to explore the effect of DCA, small molecular antitumor agent, on the autophagy regulation and chemosensitization in NSCLC cells. Methods: We investigated the autophagy regulation of dichloroacetate (DCA) by laser confocal microscopy and western blotting in A549 and H1975 cell lines. The MTT assay and flow cytometry was performed for explore the chemosensitization effectiveness of DCA. The results were verified with subcutaneous tumor model in nude mice and the immunohistochemistry was applied for assessing the level of cell apoptosis and autophagy in vivo post treatment. Results: We found that DCA, which exhibited antitumor properties in various carcinoma models, induced apoptosis of non-small cell lung cancer cells (NSCLC) by inhibiting cancer cell autophagy. Furthermore, Perifosine, an AKT inhibitor, can greatly weaken the capacity of inducing apoptosis by DCA. The results indicate that the AKT-mTOR pathway, a main negative regulator of autophagy, is involved in the DCA-induced inhibition of autophagy. Then, we detected the effectiveness of autophagy inhibition by DCA. When used in co-treatment with the chemotherapeutic drug paclitaxel (PTX), DCA markedly decreased cell autophagy, enhanced apoptosis and inhibited proliferation in A549 and H1975 cells. The results of the xenograft experiment demonstrate that co-treatment of PTX and DCA can significantly decrease cell proliferation in vivo and prolong the survival of mice. Conclusion: Our results suggest that DCA can inhibit cell autophagy induced by chemotherapeutics, providing a new avenue for cancer chemotherapy sensitization.

Gastric cancer is a frequent malignant tumor worldwide and its early detection is crucial for curing the disease and enhancing patients’ survival rate. This study aimed to assess whether the multi-disciplinary team (MDT) can improve the detection rate of early gastric cancer (EGC). The detection rate of EGC at the Digestive Endoscopy Center, Affiliated Hospital, Zunyi Medical College, China between September 2013 and September 2015 was analyzed. MDT for the diagnosis of EGC in the hospital was established in September 2014. The study was divided into 2 time periods: September 1, 2013 to August 31, 2014 (period 1) and September 1, 2014 to September 1, 2015 (period 2). A total of 60,800 patients’ gastroscopies were performed during the two years. 61 of these patients (0.1%) were diagnosed as EGC, accounting for 16.44% (61/371) of total patients with gastric cancer. The EGC detection rate before MDT (period 1) was 0.05% (16/29403), accounting for 9.09% (16/176) of total patients with gastric cancer during this period. In comparison, the EGC detection rate during MDT (period 2) was 0.15% (45/31397), accounting for 23% (45/195) of total patients with gastric cancer during this period (P < 0.05). Univariate and multivariate logistic analyses showed that intensive gastroscopy for high risk patients of gastric cancer enhanced the detection rate of EGC in cooperation with Department of Pathology (OR = 10.1, 95% CI 2.39–43.3, P < 0.05). MDT could improve the endoscopic detection rate of EGC.