Although hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the deadliest health burdens worldwide, few drugs are available for its clinical treatment. However, in recent years, major breakthroughs have been ...made in the development of new drugs due to intensive fundamental research and numerous clinical trials in HCC. Traditional systemic therapy schemes and emerging immunotherapy strategies have both advanced. Between 2017 and 2020, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a variety of drugs for the treatment of HCC, including multikinase inhibitors (regorafenib, lenvatinib, cabozantinib, and ramucirumab), immune checkpoint inhibitors (nivolumab and pembrolizumab), and bevacizumab combined with atezolizumab. Currently, there are more than 1000 ongoing clinical trials involving HCC, which represents a vibrant atmosphere in the HCC drug research and development field. Additionally, traditional Chinese medicine approaches are being gradually optimized. This review summarizes FDA-approved agents for HCC, elucidates promising agents evaluated in clinical phase I/II/III trials and identifies emerging targets for HCC treatment. In addition, we introduce the development of HCC drugs in China. Finally, we discuss potential problems in HCC drug therapy and possible future solutions and indicate future directions for the development of drugs for HCC treatment.
Fall armyworm has invaded China and colonized its populations in tropical and sub-tropical regions of South China since December 2018. Chemical spray has been widely used to control the pest, which ...shall lead to resistance evolution. In this research, we collected five populations of the pest from Yunnan, Hainan, Tibet, and Fujian of China, and tested their susceptibilities to pyrethroid, organophosphorus, oxadiazine, diamide, antibiotics and other types of insecticides (14 insecticides totally) in the laboratory. Based on the susceptible baseline published from the previous studies, the resistance ratio was 615–1 068-fold to chlorpyrifos, 60–388-fold to spinosad, 26–317-fold to lambda-cyhalothrin, 13–29-fold to malathion, 9–33-fold to fenvalerate, 8–20-fold to deltamethrin, 3–8-fold to emamectin benzoate and 1–2-fold to chlorantraniliprole, respectively. The median lethal concentration (LC50) of other six insecticides without the susceptible baselines was 148.27–220.96 μg mL−1 for beta-cypermethrin, 87.03–128.43 μg mL−1 for chlorfenapyr, 16.35–99.67 μg mL−1 for indoxacarb, 10.55–51.01 μg mL−1 for phoxim, 7.08–8.78 μg mL−1 for M-EBI (the mixed insecticide of emamectin benzoate and indoxcarb) and 1.49–4.64 μg mL−1 for cyantraniliprole. This study can be helpful for chemical control as well as for resistance monitoring and management of the pest in China.
The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), a notorious migratory pest native to tropical and subtropical America, invaded China in December 2018, then ...spread through 26 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) in 2019 and 27 in 2020, damaging 1.125 and 1.278 million hectares of crops, respectively. Maize was the most severely affected crop, although wheat and other plants were also ruined. Considering the biological characteristics, incidence regularity and migration patterns of the FAW populations, Chinese government implemented a regional control strategy and divided the areas infested with FAW into the annual breeding grounds in Southwest and South China, the transitional migration area in Jiangnan and Jianghuai and the key preventive area in the Huang-Huai-Hai region and North China. The National Agro-Tech Extension and Service Center constructed “the National Information Platform for the Prevention and Control of the Fall Armyworm” at the county level, which would entail people reporting and mapping the spread of fall armyworm. According to forecasting information, millions of extension workers and small-scale growers in entire country were rallied by local governments to fight the pest through comprehensive control tactics including chemical, physical, biological and ecological measures. Thanks to the joint prevention and control, the final loss of crops infested was controlled within 5% of the total in 2019 and 2020. This review also gives a discussion on existing problems and future management scenarios.
The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda, is a newly invasive, widespread agricultural pest in China. Understanding the suitability of the main field crops in Chinese agricultural system as ...host for this polyphagous herbivore is especially important for making control strategy. Here, after FAWs were fed three important oil-bearing crops (oilseed rape, soybean and sunflower) planted in China and resultant population parameters were compared using the age-stage, two-sex life table method, survival of larvae on soybean was significantly lower than that on oilseed rape and sunflower. Developmental duration of larvae on soybean was also the longest (23.3 days). The highest pupation rate was recorded on sunflower. The highest pupal mass (0.19 g) was attained on oilseed rape, significantly higher than on the other host plants; the lowest mass was on soybean (0.15 g). On soybean, oilseed rape and sunflower, respectively, the average generation period was 42.21, 39.10 and 40.44 d; the intrinsic rate of increase (r) was 0.0844, 0.1041 and 0.1134; the finite rate of increase (λ) was 1.0881, 1.1098 and 1.1202. While the most suitable host plant overall was sunflower, S. frugiperda completed development and increased its population on all three host plants. Thus, soybean, oilseed rape and sunflower were all suitable for FAW, and population monitoring and management of FAW in these crops should be increased.
The fall armyworm (FAW), native to the Americas, has rapidly invaded the whole of Southern China since January 2019. In addition, it can survive and breed in the key maize- and rice- growing area of ...the Yangtze River Valley. Furthermore, this pest is also likely to continue infiltrating other cropping regions in China, where food security is facing a severe threat. To understand the potential infestation area of newly-invaded FAW from the Yangtze River Valley, we simulated and predicted the possible flight pathways and range of the populations using a numerical trajectory modelling method combining meteorological data and self-powered flight behavior parameters of FAW. Our results indicate that the emigration of the first and second generations of newly-invaded FAW initiating from the Yangtze River Valley started on 20 May 2019 and ended on 30 July 2019. The spread of migratory FAW benefitted from transport on the southerly summer monsoon so that FAW emigrants from the Yangtze River Valley can reach northern China. The maize-cropping areas of Northeastern China, the Korean Peninsula and Japan are at a high risk. This study provides a basis for early warning and a broad picture of FAW migration from the Yangtze River Valley.
The fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda, an invasive insect pest native to the Americas, has established populations throughout eastern China. The North China Plain—a key corn‐producing area in East ...China with a unique topography—was invaded by fall armyworm in 2019 and is seriously threatened by this migratory pest. However, the spatiotemporal extent of the migratory movements of fall armyworm from the North China Plain remains poorly understood. Using an air transport‐based trajectory modeling approach that incorporates flight behavior, we simulated the potential nocturnal migration trajectories of fall armyworm from the North China Plain based on historical meteorological data from June to October of 2015–2019, and examined the night‐time atmospheric conditions associated with their possible flights. The emigration patterns showed monthly variation in the main landing area and common migration direction. The displacement of newly emerged moths from the North China Plain was concentrated in the Northeast China Plain (including Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces) before late summer, after which they were most likely to undertake return flights to the south (especially into Hubei, Anhui and Hunan provinces). This southwest‐northeast aerial migration corridor follows the topography of East China and is affected by the East Asian monsoon. These topographic‐atmospheric conditions have resulted in the North China Plain becoming a key stopover for fall armyworm populations engaging in multigenerational long‐distance migration across East China. These findings contribute to our knowledge of fall armyworm migration and will aid in the implementation of management and control strategies against this highly migratory agricultural pest.
Graphical : Trajectory modeling revealed a southwest‐northeast migration corridor for fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) emerging from the North China Plain. The spatiotemporal extent of the nocturnal migratory movements of fall armyworm from the North China Plain was simulated using the trajectory analysis approach based on historical meteorological data from June to October of 2015‐2019. The topography‐induced windborne displacement of newly emerged moths from the North China Plain was concentrated in Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces before late summer, and Hubei, Anhui and Hunan provinces after late summer.
Transgenic cotton that has been engineered to produce insecticidal toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and so to resist the pest cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) has been widely planted in ...Asia. Analysis of the population dynamics of H. armigera from 1992 to 2007 in China indicated that a marked decrease in regional outbreaks of this pest in multiple crops was associated with the planting of Bt cotton. The study area included six provinces in northern China with an annual total of 3 million hectares of cotton and 22 million hectares of other crops (corn, peanuts, soybeans, and vegetables) grown by more than 10 million resource-poor farmers. Our data suggest that Bt cotton not only controls H. armigera on transgenic cotton designed to resist this pest but also may reduce its presence on other host crops and may decrease the need for insecticide sprays in general.
Radiotherapy has unique immunostimulatory and immunosuppressive effects. Although high‐dose radiotherapy has been found to have systemic antitumor effects, clinically significant abscopal effects ...were uncommon on the basis of irradiating single lesion. Low‐dose radiation therapy (LDRT) emerges as a novel approach to enhance the antitumor immune response due to its role as a leverage to reshape the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME). In this article, from bench to bedside, we reviewed the possible immunomodulatory role of LDRT on TIME and systemic tumor immune environment, and outlined preclinical evidence and clinical application. We also discussed the current challenges when LDRT is used as a combination therapy, including the optimal dose, fraction, frequency, and combination of drugs. The advantage of low toxicity makes LDRT potential to be applied in multiple lesions to amplify antitumor immune response in polymetastatic disease, and its intersection with other disciplines might also make it a direction for radiotherapy‐combined modalities.
LDRT fuels the cancer‐immunity cycle and potential combination therapy.
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