研究：母乳能殺死癌細(xì)胞

最新研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，母乳是一種天然的“抗癌良藥”。瑞典研究人員在母乳中發(fā)現(xiàn)一種能夠殺死癌細(xì)胞的物質(zhì)。經(jīng)過治療的膀胱癌患者能夠?qū)⑺劳龅陌┘?xì)胞通過尿液排出體外。

Bottles with breast milk donated by nursing mothers are seen at the human milk bank at the San Juan de Dios hospital in Guatemala City, Guatemala, August 1, 2016. The milk bank is for babies whose mothers are unable to breastfeed or to prevent infections and in a government effort to reduce infant mortality. REUTERS/Saul Martinez

Breast milk is being used to fight cancer after scientists accidentally discovered it contains a substance that kills tumour cells.

科學(xué)家們意外發(fā)現(xiàn)母乳中含有能殺死腫瘤細(xì)胞的物質(zhì)后，正試圖通過母乳來對抗癌癥。

Trials in patients with bladder cancer have already yielded promising results and researchers believe the compound breast milk contains – nicknamed Hamlet – will also help tackle bowel cancer and cervical cancer.

對膀胱癌患者進(jìn)行的實(shí)驗(yàn)已經(jīng)取得了令人滿意的結(jié)果，研究人員認(rèn)為，母乳中存在的一種昵稱為“哈姆雷特”的物質(zhì)還有助于治療腸癌和宮頸癌。

They also say it homes in on cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed – so it has none of the debilitating side effects of chemotherapy.

研究人員還稱，這種物質(zhì)能夠?qū)?zhǔn)癌細(xì)胞攻擊，同時(shí)不傷害健康細(xì)胞。這意味著該物質(zhì)不會(huì)產(chǎn)生化學(xué)治療那樣削弱體質(zhì)的副作用。

Professor Catharina Svanborg, who made the initial discovery, said: ‘There’s something magical about Hamlet’s ability to target tumour cells and kill them.’

最先發(fā)現(xiàn)這種物質(zhì)的凱斯琳娜•斯萬伯格教授稱，“‘哈姆雷特’能夠定位腫瘤細(xì)胞并殺死它們，這十分不可思議。”

She said human breast milk contained a protein called alpha-lactalbumin, which is transformed into a cancer-fighting agent when in the gut.

凱斯琳娜教授稱，母乳中含有一種叫做α-乳白蛋白的蛋白質(zhì)，這種蛋白質(zhì)能夠在腸道中轉(zhuǎn)化為抗癌成分。

Prof Svanborg, an immunologist at Lund University in Sweden, made the chance discovery that the substance kills tumour cells when working on antibiotics.

斯萬伯格教授是瑞典隆德大學(xué)免疫系統(tǒng)專家，她是在研究抗生素時(shí)，偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)這種物質(zhì)能夠殺死癌細(xì)胞的。

She said: ‘We were looking for novel antimicrobial agents, and new breast milk is a very good source of these. During one experiment we needed human cells and bacteria to be present, and we chose human tumour cells for practical reasons.

斯萬伯格教授說道：“我們當(dāng)時(shí)正在尋找新的抗菌劑，而新鮮的母乳是個(gè)很好的來源。一次試驗(yàn)中，我們需要用到人類細(xì)胞和細(xì)菌，為了便于操作，我們選擇了人類的腫瘤細(xì)胞。”

‘To our amazement, when we added this compound of milk, the tumour cells died. It was a totally serendipitous discovery.’

“令我們大吃一驚的是，我們加入母乳中的這一成分后，腫瘤細(xì)胞就死亡了。這完全是意料之外的發(fā)現(xiàn)。”

The substance attacks cancer cells in numerous ways – first evading the cell’s outer defences, then targeting the ‘power station’ mitochondria and the ‘instruction manual’ nucleus. These actions cut off the cell’s energy source and ‘programme’ it to commit suicide, in a process called apoptosis.

這種物質(zhì)通過各種方式攻擊癌細(xì)胞——首先躲開細(xì)胞外部防護(hù)，接著對準(zhǔn)“動(dòng)力站”線粒體和“操作指南”細(xì)胞核。這些行為都會(huì)切斷細(xì)胞的能量源，并使其自滅，這個(gè)過程稱為細(xì)胞凋亡。

Early trials in patients with bladder cancer show those injected with Hamlet start shedding dead tumour cells in their urine within days.

早期對膀胱癌患者的實(shí)驗(yàn)顯示，那些注射‘哈姆雷特’的患者，幾天之內(nèi)開始通過尿液排出死亡的腫瘤細(xì)胞。

A full-scale trial putting Hamlet against a placebo ‘dummy drug’ is now planned.

研究人員計(jì)劃用‘哈姆雷特’與“安慰劑”進(jìn)行全面的對比實(shí)驗(yàn)。