新发现：“双面性”基因成癌症催化剂

最近 ，英国癌症研究中心发现了一个名为FOXC1的基因，该基因会导致癌症不断恶化，尤其是对于急性髓系白血病（AML）患者，该项研究发表在《癌症细胞》杂志上。

FOXC1基因通常是存在于一些特定的转换过程中，比如胚胎发育，或者是细胞转换成眼睛、肾脏、大脑和骨骼等特定组织。

但新的研究表明，FOXC1对于急性髓系白血病（AML）患者却是一个错误的存在，因为它错误地打开了病人肿瘤细胞的“开关”，从而加速了患者病情的恶化。

FOXC1是如何加速性髓系白血病（AML）患者病情的？FOXC1在不断发展血细胞的同时，阻止它们成长为人体所需的正常血细胞，这导致了癌细胞更具攻击性，因为年轻细胞能够复制成熟细胞，导致癌细胞生长更快，病情难以遏制，加深治疗的难度。

在英国，每年有2900人被诊断为急性髓系白血病（AML），其中有20%的患者是被FOXC1基因错误地开启了癌细胞。

英国癌症研究中心的蒂姆博士说：“这是一个重要的发现，有助于我们对急性髓系白血病的展开更深入的研究，为什么会患上急性髓系白血病，不是因为基因出现了突变或者缺陷，而是因为基因在错误的时间被错误的打开，从而加速了癌细胞的生长速度。FOXC1基因具有两面性，一方面，特定组织的转换过程需要它，而另一方面，当它被错误地打开，却导致了急性髓系白血病的发生。”

研究中心高级科学传播经理内尔巴里表示：“我们必须继续进一步了解细胞癌变的生物学基础，在这项研究中，确定一个特定的基因在侵袭急性髓系白血病，这将为我们寻找新的治疗方法能提供线索，从而有助于为患者进行个性化治疗。”

原文：

Scientists have identified a gene - FOXC1 - that, if switched on, causes more aggressive cancer in a fifth of acute myeloid leukaemia （AML） patients, according to a Cancer Research UK study published in the journal Cancer Cell, today.

The FOXC1 gene is normally switched on during embryonic development and is needed to turn cells into specialised tissues, like the eyes, kidney, brain and bone.

But this new research found that in certain patients with AML - a type of blood cancer that affects white blood cells and the bone marrow - this gene was wrongly switched on inside the patient's cancer cells.

When it is switched on in blood cell tissue, FOXC1 stunts the development of blood cells and stops them maturing into normal specialised blood cells.

This triggers the cancer to be more aggressive, as young cells are able to replicate more than mature cells - causing cancer cells to grow faster and become more difficult to treat.

Around 2,900 people are diagnosed with AML each year in the UK. Of these, around 20 per cent would have had the FOXC1 gene wrongly switched on in their cancer.

Dr Tim Somervaille, lead author from the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute at The University of Manchester, said: “This is an important finding which helps us understand how acute myeloid leukaemia develops and why some cases of AML are more aggressive than others. Here, instead of being faulty or mutated, this normal gene is turned on in the wrong place at the wrong time which makes the cancer grow more rapidly.”

“There are certain situations where this gene is necessary, as in the development of the eye and skeleton before birth. But when it's switched on in the wrong tissue, it causes more aggressive forms of leukaemia.“Nell Barrie, senior science communication manager at Cancer Research UK, said: ”It's essential that we continue to research basic biology to further understand how cells become cancerous. In this study, identifying a specific gene behind more aggressive forms of acute myeloid leukaemia could give clues for new ways to personalise treatments for select patients. The better we understand the nuts and bolts of each cancer, the sooner we can find new ways to stop it.”

来源：医谷网   作者：译 史士云