埃菲社1月25日報道,，紐約羅戈辛研究所的研究人員首次成功展示了如何使用老鼠腎臟癌細胞抑制或阻止人類癌癥擴散。
“這種療法使用常規(guī)生物學(xué)方法,，避免了傳統(tǒng)化療的毒副作用,，為癌癥治療提供了一種新選擇。”羅戈辛研究所負責(zé)人巴里·史密斯在公告中表示,。
研究證實,，把老鼠癌細胞注入由藻類提取物制成的膠囊并移植到癌癥患者的腹部，能夠減緩或阻止腫瘤生長,。
在研究第一階段,，研究人員在30多位癌癥晚期患者身上進行的試驗證實了這種療法的可靠性,。在第二階段，試驗擴展到了早期結(jié)腸癌,、胰腺癌和前列腺癌患者,。
此外，研究人員還在40只自發(fā)患上前列腺癌,、肝癌和乳腺癌的貓和狗身上進行了試驗,。結(jié)果顯示腫瘤發(fā)展受到了抑制，在某些情況下,，腫瘤出現(xiàn)壞死或消失,，這些動物最終恢復(fù)了正常生活。
史密斯說：“研究結(jié)果顯示這種方法不只是針對某一類特定腫瘤,，老鼠細胞可用于治療多種人類腫瘤,，人類細胞也可用于治療多種動物腫瘤。”
羅戈辛研究所的研究從研制上述膠囊開始,，隨后進行了臨床前研究,，并發(fā)現(xiàn)移植到癌癥患者體內(nèi)的動物癌細胞與患者的免疫系統(tǒng)處于隔絕狀態(tài)，但仍能發(fā)揮作用,。
“現(xiàn)有許多治療方法具有局限性,，只是專注于某一方面，無法從整體上治療疾病,。”參與研究的斯圖爾特·蘇博特尼克指出,，這種新技術(shù)改變了疾病的發(fā)展進程，在治療中利用了人體的天然防御機制,。
相關(guān)論文1月25日發(fā)表于在線版的《癌癥研究》 Cancer Research 上,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原文出處：
Cancer Research doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-10-2258
Hydrophilic Agarose Macrobead Cultures select for Outgrowth of Carcinoma Cell Populations That Can Restrict Tumor Growth
Barry H. Smith1,2,6, Lawrence S. Gazda1,8, Bryan L. Conn8, Kanti Jain1,8, Shirin Asina8, Daniel M. Levine1,3, Thomas S. Parker1,3, Melissa A. Laramore8, Prithy C. Martis8, Horatiu V. Vinerean8, Eric M. David1, Suizhen Qiu1, Alison J. North7, C. Guillermo Couto9, Gerald S. Post11, David J. Waters12, Carlos Cordon-Cardo5, Richard D. Hall10, Bruce R. Gordon1,2,4,6, Carolyn H. Diehl1, Kurt H. Stenzel1,2,3,4, and Albert L. Rubin1,2,3,4
Abstract
Cancer cells and their associated tumors have long been considered to exhibit unregulated proliferation or growth. However, a substantial body of evidence indicates that tumor growth is subject to both positive and negative regulatory controls. Here, we describe a novel property of tumor growth regulation that is neither species nor tumor-type specific. This property, functionally a type of feedback control, is triggered by the encapsulation of neoplastic cells in a growth-restricting hydrogel composed of an agarose matrix with a second coating of agarose to form 6- to 8-mm diameter macrobeads. In a mouse cell model of renal adenocarcinoma (RENCA cells), this process resulted in selection for a stem cell–like subpopulation which together with at least one other cell subpopulation drove colony formation in the macrobeads. Cells in these colonies produced diffusible substances that markedly inhibited in vitro and in vivo proliferation of epithelial-derived tumor cells outside the macrobeads. RENCA cells in monolayer culture that were exposed to RENCA macrobead-conditioned media exhibited cell-cycle accumulation in S phase due to activation of a G2/M checkpoint. At least 10 proteins with known tumor suppression functions were identified by analysis of RENCA macrobead-conditioned media, the properties of which offer opportunities to further dissect the molecular basis for tumor growth control. More generally, macrobead culture may permit the isolation of cancer stem cells and other cells of the stem cell niche, perhaps providing strategies to define more effective biologically based clinical approaches to treat neoplastic disease.
