[转载]癌症研究的里程碑, 捕获癌细胞而不是杀死他们;

javacoder

大家看看应用于临床或实践的可能性或者多久可以应用。

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Milestone of cancer research: Arresting cancers rather than killing them - Currently published in Nature
01 February 2013 Universitaet Tübingen

Under embargo until 04 February 2013 00:01 GMT
The research team around Prof. Dr. Martin R?cken from the Department of Dermatology of the University Medical Center Tübingen could show for the first time that the immune system is able to drive tumours and tumour cells into a form of permanent dormancy (1). The resulting growth arrest allows tumour control in the absence of cancer cell destruction. This permanent dormancy – scientifically known as senescence (2, 3) – may persist for the whole life of the organism. Thus, immunotherapy can prevent tumour development without destroying the cells (1, 4).

Prof. Martin R?cken, Director of the Department of Dermatology of the University Medical Center Tübingen, outlines the current state of tumour therapy as follows: “About 50 years ago the former President of the United States of America Richard Nixon declared the “War on cancer“. Strong financial and logistic efforts were undertaken and thought to overcome this devastating disease in relatively short time. At this time, researchers and clinicians learned to use chemotherapeutics or natural killer cells to directly attack the tumour cells and to destroy cancers including their environment. This led to several very important, partly brilliant achievements in the understanding of tumour development and to improved cancer diagnostics. What's more, the treatment of several different cancers was markedly improved by new and innovative operation techniques, radiation, chemo- and immunotherapy. However, the main goal, ie. the decisive victory on cancer, remained absent.“ ,,Since long time“, Prof. R?cken explains further, ,,doubts were raised about the strategy of the “War on cancer“ which exclusively focussed on cancer destruction, as for example published in an essay in the renowned journal “The Lancet“ and other latest publications (5, 6, 7).“

The research team around Prof. Martin R?cken now moved one, possibly the crucial, step forward. The scientists showed for the first time that immune responses can drive tumours and tumour cells into a form of permanent dormancy (1). This permanent dormancy or senescence (2, 3) may persist for the whole life of the organism. Immunotherapy is thus able to prevent the development and/or the growth of tumours without killing the cells (1, 4).

Importantly, the work of the R?cken group revealed that immune reponses also drive tumours of human origin into senescence. The human body apparently defends itself from cancer by inducing the senescence program in tumour cells thereby inhibiting tumour growth (1).

In this line, two well known signalling molecules of cancer therapy and immunology of infectious diseases move again in the center of attention: the interferons and tumor necrosis factor. Repeatedly, a bulk of researchers and clinicians tried to use these molecules and other techniques to destroy the tumour cells and their supplying blood vessels, and so did the scientists from Tübingen. Surprisingly, however, the R?cken group found that a combination of both signalling molecules, interferon and tumor necrosis factor, stopped the tumour growth in vivo without any signs of tumour or tissue destruction.

In animal experiments, the efficacy of immunotherapy-induced senescence proved to be much better than any other therapy based on “cancer destruction“ (4). Most importantly, the common action of both signalling molecules, interferon and tumor necrosis factor, also stopped the growth of human tumours (1).

In the course of a natural immune response, the research team even detected senescence induction in regressing malignant tumours of cancer patients (Figure 1). 7 years ago, it was shown in principle that cancer cells can be shifted towards permanent dormancy or senescence (2, 3). Those theoretical insights were now successfully transferred into a therapeutic approach, here an immunotherapeutic regimen (1, 4).

The new therapeutic option will enable clinicians to approach their goal of a life-prolonging, mainly adverse effect-free cancer therapy. “It is very likely that we can't win the “War on cancer“ by exclusive military means.“, Prof. R?cken resumes. “Instead, it will be an important milestone to restore the bodies? immune control of malignant tumours.“
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GodBless

谢谢分享！这应该是长期带瘤生存的最好诠释了。文章发在Nature上，应该是很严谨的，不过科学发现的意义可能更大一些，离临床应用可能还比较远。

416674541

英文的看不懂啊！有没有中文版的？

fred9999

This new therapeutic strategy offers the opportunity to develop new cancer immunotherapy that should be less aggressive, with relatively few side effects but highly efficient. Professor Rocken: „It is likely that in the future we will not primarily try to destroy cancer with ever more toxic regimen; instead we will focus on strategies that restore the body’s immune control over cancers “.

这个总结最重要了，少用毒害身体的方法杀死癌细胞，而是努力恢复自己的免疫系统