Croagh Daniel, Thomas Robert J S, Phillips Wayne A, Kaur Pritinder
Surgical Oncology Research Laboratory, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Locked Bag 1, A'Beckett Street, Melbourne, Victoria 8006, Australia.
Stem Cell Rev. 2008 Dec;4(4):261-8. doi: 10.1007/s12015-008-9031-3. Epub 2008 Aug 5.
The incidence of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus has increased faster than any other internal malignancy over the last 40 years. Despite this, surprisingly little is known about the basic biology of this tissue, particularly with regards to the organization of cell proliferation within the epithelium. This is a matter of crucial importance for our understanding of the pathogenesis of esophageal cancer. Nevertheless, significant advances have recently been made in the identification and functional characterization of both murine and human esophageal stem cells and their progeny in recent years. This places investigators in an exciting position to gain further insights into the processes of tissue renewal and repair on the one hand and the development of dysplasia and malignancy on the other.
在过去40年里，食管腺癌的发病率增长速度超过了其他任何一种体内恶性肿瘤。尽管如此，令人惊讶的是，我们对这种组织的基础生物学了解甚少，尤其是上皮内细胞增殖的组织方式。这对于我们理解食管癌的发病机制至关重要。然而，近年来在小鼠和人类食管干细胞及其子代的鉴定和功能特征方面取得了重大进展。这使研究人员处于一个令人兴奋的位置，一方面可以进一步深入了解组织更新和修复过程，另一方面可以深入了解发育异常和恶性肿瘤的发展过程。
