正在进行分裂的癌细胞（图）
英国科学家们最近在癌症治疗上又有新发现，他们发现使用卡介素（一种用于预防肺结核的疫苗）可能能够增强人体抵抗癌症的能力。
这项研究的论文发表在最新一期的《British Journal of Cancer》杂志上。
来自英国伦敦圣乔治大学的Wai Liu博士和Angus Dalgleish教授的研究结果显示，接种疫苗也许能有效增强目前各种治疗癌症方法的抗癌效果。但他们强调，目前还处于实验的早期阶段，在应用于临床前还有很多工作要做。
Wai Liu 博士说道：“众所周知的是，癌细胞通常会将自己“伪装”成正常的细胞。这导致人体的免疫系统早期难于发现和识别这些癌细胞，因此才会导致癌症的扩散。”在该研究中，科学家们在人类肿瘤细胞中过加入卡介素（剂量参照临床接种肺结核疫苗标准），发现卡介素能诱导白细胞分泌一些细胞因子，这些细胞因子能去掉癌细胞的“掩饰”，使得免疫系统能将这些癌细胞识别为“外源性物质”，并被白细胞成功的识别和杀死。
该研究对人肺癌细胞、乳腺癌细胞、结肠癌细胞、胰腺癌细胞和皮肤癌细胞均进行了测试，并发现人体免疫细胞对其中三种癌细胞—肺癌、乳腺癌和结肠癌识别能力明显增强。
药物诱导人体抵抗癌症最近变成了科学家们热门的话题。这项研究发现为之提供了新的依据，在未来，这些可以用作癌症的辅助治疗手段。
Wai Liu 博士说道：“现在实验还处于早期阶段，离临床应用还有一定的距离，我们下一步将着重于使用这些疫苗研发临床上可用于辅助性治疗的新药物。”（生物探索 Jun译）
生物探索推荐英文论文原文摘要：
Supernatants from lymphocytes stimulated with Bacillus Calmette-Guerin can modify the antigenicity of tumours and stimulate allogeneic T-cell responses
Background:
Reduced expression of class 1 human leucocyte antigens (HLA1) is often a mechanism by which tumours evade surveillance by the host immune system. This is often associated with an immune function that is unable to mount appropriate responses against disease, which can result in a state that favours carcinogenesis.
Methods:
In the current study, we have explored the effects of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) on the cytokine output of leucocytes, which is a key determinant in generating antitumour action, and have also assessed the effect of these cytokine cocktails on HLA1 expression in solid tumour cell lines.
Results:
BCG potently activated a broad range of leucocytes, and also enhanced the production of cytokines that were Th1-predominant. Supernatants from BCG-treated leucocytes significantly increased the expression of HLA1 on the surface of cancer cell lines, which correlated with increased cytolytic T-cell activity. We also showed that the increased HLA1 expression was associated with activation of intracellular signalling pathways, which was triggered by the increases in the Th1-cytokines interferon-γ and tumour necrosis factor-α, as counteracting their effects negated the enhancement.
Conclusion:
These studies reaffirm the role of BCG as a putative immunotherapy through their cytokine-modifying effects on leucocytes and their capacity to enhance tumour visibility.
