斯蒂芬·馬修斯2017年9月20日
新的研究表明，供應氧氣餓癌細胞可以幫助殺死致命的腫瘤。這一簡單的技術靈感來自登山者的海拔訓練，強化免疫系統(tǒng)來尋找和破壞腫瘤。
以色列科學家表示，新的免疫療法促進T細胞，具有殺死有害細胞的專門作用的白細胞。讓細胞喪失氧氣，使腫瘤萎縮，比傳統(tǒng)的免疫療法更有效。
該研究的主要作者、魏茨曼科學研究所的蓋伊·謝克哈爾教授說，T細胞是癌癥免疫治療的重要組成部分，它們攻擊和破壞癌細胞，但并不總是設法消除惡性腫瘤。我們已經(jīng)證明，通過在缺氧環(huán)境中培育這些T細胞，可以把它們變成更有效的殺手。就像高空訓練提高了人類的耐力，通過健康養(yǎng)生法將T細胞殺死，顯然能增強他們的耐力。
免疫療法的好處
利用免疫系統(tǒng)對抗惡性腫瘤，即免疫療法，在過去的幾年里已經(jīng)開始拯救癌癥患者的生命。這種方法主要是從病人的血液中拿出T細胞，改良為能破壞癌細胞的，再送回去。
迄今為止，這種方法對某些白血病和淋巴瘤效果最好，但對實體腫瘤卻沒有效果。發(fā)表在《細胞報告》上的《氧饑餓的新研究》是第一個對實體腫瘤產(chǎn)生影響的研究。研究小組稱，這也是有史以來第一個關于缺氧細胞抗癌能力的報告。
這項研究是如何進行的?
在對老鼠進行的實驗室試驗中，科學家們在一個只有1%氧氣濃度的孵化器中培育出T細胞。海拔訓練教運動員如何處理低至6.9%的氧氣濃度，這是登山者在珠穆朗瑪峰頂端的感覺。一組小鼠注射了缺氧T細胞。另一種是在正常條件下生長的T細胞。
他們發(fā)現(xiàn)了什么?
結果顯示，缺氧T細胞在對抗癌癥方面更有效。用這些細胞治療的老鼠活得更久，與用普通T細胞治療的老鼠相比，它們的腫瘤縮小得更明顯。這并不是因為缺氧的T細胞更能穿透腫瘤，而是因為它們有更高水平的一種叫做顆粒酶B的破壞性酶，它能穿透并殺死癌細胞。如果這些發(fā)現(xiàn)在人體試驗中重復，它們可能會直接導致對實體腫瘤的免疫治療。
氧氣的好處
今年5月，每日郵報網(wǎng)站報道了一名28歲的婦女，用天然氧氣療法治療她的第四階段癌癥。今年10月，薩布里娜·高爾沒有辦法治療她的口腔鱗狀細胞癌。她選擇了一種有爭議的方法來反對她的醫(yī)生的建議:氧氣療法，效果很好。長期以來，這種療法一直被用于治療潛水員減壓病。一個人坐在房間里，三倍正常氣壓和純氧被泵入。肺能夠吸收更多的氧氣，從而更快地通過血液輸送到身體的各個部位。研究表明，這種療法與修復受損細胞和器官的功能有關。
【原文網(wǎng)址】http://www./health/article-4902000/Starving-cancer-cells-oxygen-destroy-tumours.html
Starving cancer cells of oxygen could destroy tumours: Techniqueinspired by altitude training ''toughens up'' the immune systemIsraeli scientists showed the new immunotherapy treatmentbolstered T cells These white blood cells have the specialised job ofdestroying cancerous cellsDepriving the T cells of their oxygen shrunk tumours morethan other methods
By StephenMatthews For Mailonline
PUBLISHED: 16:42BST, 20 September2017 | UPDATED: 18:30BST, 20 September 2017
Starving cancer cellsof their oxygen supply could help them kill deadly tumours, newresearch suggests.
Thesimple technique, inspired by mountain climbers'' altitude training,''toughens up'' the immune system to seek and destroy tumours.
Israeli scientists showed the new immunotherapy treatment bolsteredT cells - white blood cells with the specialised role of killingharmful cells.
Depriving the cells of oxygen shrunk tumours more effectively thanconventional immunotherapy methods.
Lead author Professor Guy Shakhar, from the Weizmann Institute ofScience, said: ''Killer T cells are the foot soldiers of cancerimmunotherapy.
''They are the ones to target and destroy cancerous cells, but theydon’t always manage to eliminate the malignancy.
''We’ve shown that by growing these T cells in an oxygen-poorenvironment, we can turn them into more effective killers.''
Headded: ''Just as altitude training increases endurance in humans,putting killer T cells through a ''fitness regimen’ apparentlytoughens them up.''
The benefits ofimmunotherapy
Harnessing the immune system to battle malignancy – known asimmunotherapy – has already started saving the lives of cancerpatients in the past few years.
Inone major version of this approach, T cells are removed from thepatient’s blood and adapted to destroy cancerous cells. They arethen returned.
This method has so far worked best against certain leukaemias andlymphomas, but not against solid tumors, trials have shown.
Thenew study of oxygen starvation, published in Cell Reports, is thefirst to show an effect against solidtumours.
Itis also the first ever report on the cancer-fighting ability ofoxygen starved T cells, the team of researcherssaid.
How was the study carriedout?
Forthe laboratory trial on mice, the scientists grew T cells in anincubator with an oxygen concentration of just 1 per cent.
Altitude training teaches athletes to cope with oxygenconcentrations of as low as 6.9 per cent - which is what climbersfeel at the top of Mount Everest.
Onegroup of mice were injected with the oxygen-starved T cells. Theother were given T cells grown in normal conditions.
What did theyfind?
Oxygen-starved T cells proved much more effective at fighting thecancer, the results showed.
Mice treated with these cells lived longer and their tumors shrankmuch more dramatically compared with the mice treated with regularT cells.
However, it wasn''t because the oxygen-starved T cells penetratedtumours better - it was because they had higherlevels of a destructive enzyme called granzyme B, which penetratesand kills cancerous cells.
Ifthe findings are repeated in human trials, they could lead to animmediate means of improving immunotherapy against solidtumours.
THE BENEFITS OF OXYGEN...
InMay, DailyMail.com reported on a 28-year-old woman who used naturaloxygen therapy to cure her stage four mouth cancer.
Sabrina Gauer had run out of options to treat her aggressive oralsquamous cell carcinoma tumor in October.
Sheopted for a controversial method against her doctor''srecommendation: oxygen therapy - and it worked.
Thetherapy has long been used to treat divers with ''the bends'' ordecompression sickness.
Aperson sits in the chamber that is increased up to three times thenormal air pressure and pure oxygen is pumped in.
Lungs are able to absorb more oxygen in this state, which leads toquicker delivery to parts of the body through the blood stream.
Studies have linked the treatment to restoring function to damagedcells and organs.
