英国《新科学家》周刊网站2011年4月21日文章：
伦敦大学的科学家说，原来我们以为癌细胞是不死的。其实不是。通过研究癌细胞的分子形态，发现细胞在染色体的头顶有一个端粒。细胞分裂一次端粒会缩短一点。缩短到一定长度不能分裂，细胞就衰老死亡。少数不死的癌细胞激活了端粒酶逆转录酶，可以重建端粒。如果阻止逆转录酶，就可以使癌细胞全部死亡。中药的通郁解结，化痰渗湿。溃散瘤疽都能治癌。但太简单便宜了。反而无人相信。中药可治癌，让外国人发财。
【以下为我所写：
既然细胞的过度分裂（即人体的新陈代谢加快）会缩短细胞寿命，那么，体育锻炼，因为是加快人体的新陈代谢，即不能延长人的寿命。】
原文：
Immortality of all cancer cells exposed as a myth
By Andy Coghlan
Far from being immortal, most cancer cells seem unable to multiply limitlessly and spread throughout the body.
Dot Bennett of St George’s University of London and colleagues found that only four of 37 skin cancer samples they examined displayed the supposed hallmark of cancer. “We thought they’d all be immortal, but they weren’t,” she says.
By studying the molecular profiles of the cancer cells as they grew in the lab, the team found that many appeared to have hit a “telomere crisis” and stopped dividing. Telomeres are the caps that protect the ends of chromosomes and they shorten every time a cell divides. In a telomere crisis, the tips become so short that the cell mistakes them for DNA breaks and tries to repair them, generating freak cells that die or become dormant.
The team found that the few cancer cells that are immortal activate telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), a part of the telomerase enzyme that rebuilds telomeres so they avoid a telomere crisis.
Normally, TERT is active only in sperm or egg cells, so looking for it in a tumour could tell doctors whether the cells are immortal and more likely to spread, helping them decide on the best treatment.
Cancer vaccine
Last week, Cancer Research UK launched a trial to stop pancreatic cancer spreading with a vaccine composed of fragments of TERT. The body’s immune system would recognise the TERT as foreign and mobilise to attack it, bringing all pancreatic cancer cells with active TERT into the firing line too.
A vaccine that acts in a similar way against acute myelogenous leukaemia is being tested by Geron of Menlo Park, California, which has been developing anti-cancer treatments based on telomerase for some time.
Geron also has two major trials under way in breast cancer and non-small cell lung cancer to test imetelstat, a drug that blocks the activity of TERT.
Journal reference: Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research (DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-148X.2011.00850.x).
原文網址：
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20405-immortality-of-all-cancer-cells-exposed-as-a-myth/
（梁針灸寫於2017年5月） 凡轉載本網站文章，請註明本網站網址 http://www.liangzhenjiu.com
伦敦大学的科学家说，原来我们以为癌细胞是不死的。其实不是。通过研究癌细胞的分子形态，发现细胞在染色体的头顶有一个端粒。细胞分裂一次端粒会缩短一点。缩短到一定长度不能分裂，细胞就衰老死亡。少数不死的癌细胞激活了端粒酶逆转录酶，可以重建端粒。如果阻止逆转录酶，就可以使癌细胞全部死亡。中药的通郁解结，化痰渗湿。溃散瘤疽都能治癌。但太简单便宜了。反而无人相信。中药可治癌，让外国人发财。
【以下为我所写：
既然细胞的过度分裂（即人体的新陈代谢加快）会缩短细胞寿命，那么，体育锻炼，因为是加快人体的新陈代谢，即不能延长人的寿命。】
原文：
Immortality of all cancer cells exposed as a myth
By Andy Coghlan
Far from being immortal, most cancer cells seem unable to multiply limitlessly and spread throughout the body.
Dot Bennett of St George’s University of London and colleagues found that only four of 37 skin cancer samples they examined displayed the supposed hallmark of cancer. “We thought they’d all be immortal, but they weren’t,” she says.
By studying the molecular profiles of the cancer cells as they grew in the lab, the team found that many appeared to have hit a “telomere crisis” and stopped dividing. Telomeres are the caps that protect the ends of chromosomes and they shorten every time a cell divides. In a telomere crisis, the tips become so short that the cell mistakes them for DNA breaks and tries to repair them, generating freak cells that die or become dormant.
The team found that the few cancer cells that are immortal activate telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), a part of the telomerase enzyme that rebuilds telomeres so they avoid a telomere crisis.
Normally, TERT is active only in sperm or egg cells, so looking for it in a tumour could tell doctors whether the cells are immortal and more likely to spread, helping them decide on the best treatment.
Cancer vaccine
Last week, Cancer Research UK launched a trial to stop pancreatic cancer spreading with a vaccine composed of fragments of TERT. The body’s immune system would recognise the TERT as foreign and mobilise to attack it, bringing all pancreatic cancer cells with active TERT into the firing line too.
A vaccine that acts in a similar way against acute myelogenous leukaemia is being tested by Geron of Menlo Park, California, which has been developing anti-cancer treatments based on telomerase for some time.
Geron also has two major trials under way in breast cancer and non-small cell lung cancer to test imetelstat, a drug that blocks the activity of TERT.
Journal reference: Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research (DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-148X.2011.00850.x).
原文網址：
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20405-immortality-of-all-cancer-cells-exposed-as-a-myth/
（梁針灸寫於2017年5月） 凡轉載本網站文章，請註明本網站網址 http://www.liangzhenjiu.com