Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a devastating biliary cancer. Melatonin is synthesized in the pineal gland and peripheral organs from serotonin by two enzymes, serotonin N-acetyltransferase (AANAT) and acetylserotonin O-methyltransferase (ASMT). Cholangiocytes secrete neuroendocrine factors, including serotonin-regulating CCA growth by autocrine mechanisms. Melatonin exerts its effects by interacti...

BACKGROUND Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) are the two most common primary liver cancers, yet there have been no significant advances in effective therapeutics. Mesothelin has been reported as a new therapeutic target in various types of cancer. Here, we investigated the expression of mesothelin in liver cancer and its potential role as a novel therapeutic target for...

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a fatal disease that is typically diagnosed late and treated ineffectively. As the morbidity and mortality rates for CCA rise markedly, patietns with CCA currently have a poor prognosis. However, if it were possible to diagnose CCA early while effective treat methods are available, CCA patients would achieve a better quality of life. Therefore, preventing the process...

To further characterize the chlamydial cytadhesin (CCA), we have examined it for saturability of binding to HeLa cells that were grown as monolayers and in suspension. The CCA exhibited specific cytadherence properties of binding to HeLa cells that appeared to be saturable. The CCA showed a substantial decrease in binding to trypsin-treated HeLa cells in suspension. This finding, together with ...

In a practical system, a message is often encrypted more than once by different encryptions, here called multiple encryption, to enhance its security. Additionally, new features may be achieved by multiple encrypting a message, such as the key-insulated cryptosystems and anonymous channels. Intuitively, a multiple encryption should remain “secure”, whenever there is one component cipher unbreak...

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), a lethal malignancy afflicting many thousands of patients throughout the world, develops through a multi-step progression. We have established an oral thioacetamide-induced model of rat CCA recapitulating the histologic progression of human CCA, especially for mass-forming CCA (MF-CCA). Our previous DNA microarray study showed MUC4 is overexpressed in rat CCA. Herein, ...

OBJECTIVE To meta-analyze published data about the diagnostic accuracy of fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) or PET/computed tomography (PET/CT) for primary tumor evaluation in patients with cholangiocarcinoma (CCa). METHODS A comprehensive literature search of studies published through December 31, 2013, was performed. Pooled sensitivity and specifi...

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a common carcinoma of the liver, and the majority of patients with CCA have a poor prognosis due to the lack of effective nonsurgical therapies in addition to its rapid progression and inoperability at the time of diagnosis. The development of novel nonsurgical therapeutics that efficiently target CCA could significantly improve the prognosis for patients presenting ...