埃菲社1月25日报道，纽约罗戈辛研究所的研究人员首次成功展示了如何使用老鼠肾脏癌细胞抑制或阻止人类癌症扩散。
“这种疗法使用常规生物学方法，避免了传统化疗的毒副作用，为癌症治疗提供了一种新选择。”罗戈辛研究所负责人巴里·史密斯在公告中表示。
研究证实，把老鼠癌细胞注入由藻类提取物制成的胶囊并移植到癌症患者的腹部，能够减缓或阻止肿瘤生长。
在研究第一阶段，研究人员在30多位癌症晚期患者身上进行的试验证实了这种疗法的可靠性。在第二阶段，试验扩展到了早期结肠癌、胰腺癌和前列腺癌患者。
此外，研究人员还在40只自发患上前列腺癌、肝癌和乳腺癌的猫和狗身上进行了试验。结果显示肿瘤发展受到了抑制，在某些情况下，肿瘤出现坏死或消失，这些动物最终恢复了正常生活。
史密斯说：“研究结果显示这种方法不只是针对某一类特定肿瘤，老鼠细胞可用于治疗多种人类肿瘤，人类细胞也可用于治疗多种动物肿瘤。”
罗戈辛研究所的研究从研制上述胶囊开始，随后进行了临床前研究，并发现移植到癌症患者体内的动物癌细胞与患者的免疫系统处于隔绝状态，但仍能发挥作用。
“现有许多治疗方法具有局限性，只是专注于某一方面，无法从整体上治疗疾病。”参与研究的斯图尔特·苏博特尼克指出，这种新技术改变了疾病的发展进程，在治疗中利用了人体的天然防御机制。
相关论文1月25日发表于在线版的《癌症研究》 Cancer Research 上。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原文出处：
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.
