Department of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Cytotechnology. 2004 Jun;45(1-2):47-59. doi: 10.1007/s10616-004-5125-1.
The development of cancer is a multi-step process in which normal cells sustain a series of genetic alterations that together program the malignant phenotype. Much of our knowledge of cancer biology results from the detailed study of specimens and cell lines derived from patient tumors. While these approaches continue to yield critical information regarding the identity, number, and types of alterations found in human tumors, further progress in understanding the molecular basis of malignant transformation depends upon the generation and use of increasingly sophisticated experimental models of cancer. Over the past several years, the recognition that telomeres and telomerase play essential roles in regulating cell lifespan now permits the development of new models of human cancer. Here we review recent progress in the use of immortalized human cells as a foundation for understanding the molecular basis of cancer.
癌症的发展是一个多步骤的过程，在此过程中，正常细胞会持续发生一系列遗传改变，这些改变共同编程恶性表型。我们对癌症生物学的大部分认识都源于对源自患者肿瘤的标本和细胞系的详细研究。虽然这些方法继续提供有关人类肿瘤中发现的改变的身份、数量和类型的关键信息，但要进一步了解恶性转化的分子基础，还取决于生成和使用越来越复杂的癌症实验模型。在过去几年中，人们认识到端粒和端粒酶在调节细胞寿命方面起着至关重要的作用，现在可以开发新的人类癌症模型。在这里，我们回顾了最近在利用永生化人类细胞作为理解癌症分子基础的基础方面取得的进展。
