聊天聊出治皮肤癌新法：改良沙门氏菌加放疗
路透社纽约健康消息 一项新的研究表明，联合应用X射线治疗和注射通常会引起食物中毒的沙门氏菌，可以减慢一种最罕见的致命性皮肤癌──黑色素瘤的病程。
这项研究的带头人是美国耶鲁大学的约翰·派维里克博士。用沙门氏菌来治疗恶性黑色素瘤的念头起因于一次偶然的聊天。一次，派维里克博士对同事提到恶性黑色素瘤细胞会模仿一种叫做巨噬细胞的白细胞的特性时，他的同事就想到，沙门氏菌可以摧毁白细胞，它应该也可以杀灭黑色素瘤细胞。动物试验证实了这种设想，联合应用经过基因工程处理过的沙门氏菌与放射治疗，可以减慢实验鼠身上恶性黑色素瘤的生长。
注射致病性沙门氏菌似乎是一种奇怪的治疗癌症的方法，这种念头至今仍然让一些人咋舌不已，其实，这种用于治疗癌症的沙门氏菌已经被去除了致病的特性。人体试验目前正在进行之中。研究人员还找到了提高治疗效果的方法。同时注射沙门氏菌和放射线照射治疗患黑色素瘤的大鼠，与单独应用任何一种治疗时相比，肿瘤的发展速度大大减慢了。同时应用两种手段治疗的大鼠，其肿瘤平均需要100天的时间才能长成一克重，比单独应用沙门氏菌时的生长时间长5倍。多幸存几周或几个月看起来时间似乎不长，但是患恶性黑色素瘤的大鼠如果不加治疗，通常在2-3周内就会死亡。
, 百拇医药
有趣的是，联合治疗会产生超值效应，即联合治疗的效果超过单独使用沙门氏菌或放射治疗的效果的总和，研究人员试图弄清为什么会出现二加二大于四的现象。该项试验开辟了治疗恶性黑色素瘤的一个前景良好的新途径，但是目前尚不了解联合治疗的机理是怎样的。要进一步提高这种治疗的效果，唯一的方法是弄清这种治疗方法的作用机理。目前的治疗方法虽然可以减慢肿瘤的发展速度，但是并不能彻底杀灭肿瘤。
来源：《欧洲癌症杂志》2000
Bacteria Harnessed to Battle Skin Cancer
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - New research suggests that combining x-ray therapy with an injection of a bacterium that is a common source of food poisoning can slow down the progression of the rarest but most deadly form of skin cancer.
, 百拇医药
In experiments in mice, treatment that combined genetically modified Salmonella bacteria with radiation slowed down the growth of melanoma tumors.
Injecting people with disease-causing bacteria may seem like a strange way to treat cancer, and the idea still raises eyebrows, according to the study‘s lead author, Dr. John Pawelek, of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. But in an interview with Reuters Health, Pawelek noted that the strain of Salmonella used to fight cancer has been stripped of its disease-causing properties.
, http://www.100md.com
The idea of using Salmonella to treat melanoma arose when Pawelek mentioned to a colleague that melanoma cells mimic the characteristics of white blood cells called macrophages. His colleague suggested that since Salmonella destroy white blood cells, the bacteria might also kill cancer cells.
Animal testing confirmed this hunch, and human trials sponsored by Vion Pharmaceuticals are currently under way, according to Pawelek. Vion also provided funding for the current study, and one of the authors is an employee of the company.
, http://www.100md.com
Writing in the European Journal of Cancer, Pawelek and his colleagues report on a method that improves the effectiveness of Salmonella therapy in mice. When mice with melanoma received both an injection of Salmonella and radiation therapy, the progression of tumors was substantially slower than it was when either treatment was used alone.
In mice that received both treatments, tumors took an average of 100 days to reach the size of one gram, about five times longer than when the bacteria was given without radiation, according to the report.
, 百拇医药
A few weeks or months of extra survival may not seem like a long time, but Pawelek noted that mice with melanoma will usually die within 2 to 3 weeks if they do not receive treatment.
``It all points towards a nice new direction for therapy,‘‘ he said.
Interestingly, combination therapy produced what the researchers call a ``supra-additive‘‘ effect, meaning that the combined benefits were greater than those of Salmonella or radiation alone when added together.
, http://www.100md.com
Speaking of the combination therapy, Pawelek said, ``We don‘t know why it works.‘‘
With support from the pharmaceutical company Vion, Pawelek and his colleagues are currently trying to figure out why two plus two equals more than four in the case of Salmonella and radiation. Understanding how the therapy works is the only way to improve its benefits, he said, noting that the treatment slows down, but does not destroy the tumors.
SOURCE: European Journal of Cancer 2000., http://www.100md.com
这项研究的带头人是美国耶鲁大学的约翰·派维里克博士。用沙门氏菌来治疗恶性黑色素瘤的念头起因于一次偶然的聊天。一次，派维里克博士对同事提到恶性黑色素瘤细胞会模仿一种叫做巨噬细胞的白细胞的特性时，他的同事就想到，沙门氏菌可以摧毁白细胞，它应该也可以杀灭黑色素瘤细胞。动物试验证实了这种设想，联合应用经过基因工程处理过的沙门氏菌与放射治疗，可以减慢实验鼠身上恶性黑色素瘤的生长。
注射致病性沙门氏菌似乎是一种奇怪的治疗癌症的方法，这种念头至今仍然让一些人咋舌不已，其实，这种用于治疗癌症的沙门氏菌已经被去除了致病的特性。人体试验目前正在进行之中。研究人员还找到了提高治疗效果的方法。同时注射沙门氏菌和放射线照射治疗患黑色素瘤的大鼠，与单独应用任何一种治疗时相比，肿瘤的发展速度大大减慢了。同时应用两种手段治疗的大鼠，其肿瘤平均需要100天的时间才能长成一克重，比单独应用沙门氏菌时的生长时间长5倍。多幸存几周或几个月看起来时间似乎不长，但是患恶性黑色素瘤的大鼠如果不加治疗，通常在2-3周内就会死亡。
, 百拇医药
有趣的是，联合治疗会产生超值效应，即联合治疗的效果超过单独使用沙门氏菌或放射治疗的效果的总和，研究人员试图弄清为什么会出现二加二大于四的现象。该项试验开辟了治疗恶性黑色素瘤的一个前景良好的新途径，但是目前尚不了解联合治疗的机理是怎样的。要进一步提高这种治疗的效果，唯一的方法是弄清这种治疗方法的作用机理。目前的治疗方法虽然可以减慢肿瘤的发展速度，但是并不能彻底杀灭肿瘤。
来源：《欧洲癌症杂志》2000
Bacteria Harnessed to Battle Skin Cancer
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - New research suggests that combining x-ray therapy with an injection of a bacterium that is a common source of food poisoning can slow down the progression of the rarest but most deadly form of skin cancer.
, 百拇医药
In experiments in mice, treatment that combined genetically modified Salmonella bacteria with radiation slowed down the growth of melanoma tumors.
Injecting people with disease-causing bacteria may seem like a strange way to treat cancer, and the idea still raises eyebrows, according to the study‘s lead author, Dr. John Pawelek, of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. But in an interview with Reuters Health, Pawelek noted that the strain of Salmonella used to fight cancer has been stripped of its disease-causing properties.
, http://www.100md.com
The idea of using Salmonella to treat melanoma arose when Pawelek mentioned to a colleague that melanoma cells mimic the characteristics of white blood cells called macrophages. His colleague suggested that since Salmonella destroy white blood cells, the bacteria might also kill cancer cells.
Animal testing confirmed this hunch, and human trials sponsored by Vion Pharmaceuticals are currently under way, according to Pawelek. Vion also provided funding for the current study, and one of the authors is an employee of the company.
, http://www.100md.com
Writing in the European Journal of Cancer, Pawelek and his colleagues report on a method that improves the effectiveness of Salmonella therapy in mice. When mice with melanoma received both an injection of Salmonella and radiation therapy, the progression of tumors was substantially slower than it was when either treatment was used alone.
In mice that received both treatments, tumors took an average of 100 days to reach the size of one gram, about five times longer than when the bacteria was given without radiation, according to the report.
, 百拇医药
A few weeks or months of extra survival may not seem like a long time, but Pawelek noted that mice with melanoma will usually die within 2 to 3 weeks if they do not receive treatment.
``It all points towards a nice new direction for therapy,‘‘ he said.
Interestingly, combination therapy produced what the researchers call a ``supra-additive‘‘ effect, meaning that the combined benefits were greater than those of Salmonella or radiation alone when added together.
, http://www.100md.com
Speaking of the combination therapy, Pawelek said, ``We don‘t know why it works.‘‘
With support from the pharmaceutical company Vion, Pawelek and his colleagues are currently trying to figure out why two plus two equals more than four in the case of Salmonella and radiation. Understanding how the therapy works is the only way to improve its benefits, he said, noting that the treatment slows down, but does not destroy the tumors.
SOURCE: European Journal of Cancer 2000., http://www.100md.com