Department of Biological Chemistry and Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, and Center for Metabolism and Obesity Research, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
J Bioenerg Biomembr. 2012 Dec;44(6):615-7. doi: 10.1007/s10863-012-9470-z.
This introductory article and those that follow focus on the roles that mitochondria may have in cancer metastasis (spreading) that all too frequently leads to death of cancer patients. The history of cancer dates back in time to several thousand years BC and continues to this day. Although billions of dollars have been invested, numerous cancer researchers/scientists and oncologist located at universities, hospitals, cancer centers, commercial entities (companies), and government agencies have been unable to discover "magic bullets" to quickly silence most cancers. That is, agents that are effective not only in eradicating the primary tumor at its site of origin, but eradicating also distant tumors that have arisen therefrom via metastatic cells. Fortunately, in recent years some researchers have obtained evidence that the mitochondria of cancer cells are involved not only in providing in part the necessary energy (ATP) to fuel their growth, but hold the secrets to their immortality, and propensity to metastasize (spread) from their original site of origin to other body locations. This introductory article, as well as those that follow, focus on the possible roles of mitochondria in cancer metastasis as well as strategies to arrest cancer metastasis based on this knowledge. Ideally, for a patient to become "cancer free" the anticancer agent/agents used must 1) eradicate the primary tumor at its site of origin, 2) eradicate any tumors at other body locations that have arisen via metastasis, and 3) eradicate any tumor cells that remain in the blood, i.e., circulating tumor cells. One such agent that holds promise for doing all three is the small molecule 3-bromopyruvate (3BP) discovered in the author's laboratory by Dr. Young H. Ko near the turn of the century to be a potent anti-cancer agent [Ko et al.(2001) Can Lett 173:83-91].
这篇介绍性文章和后续的文章主要关注线粒体在癌症转移（扩散）中的作用，而癌症转移往往导致癌症患者死亡。癌症的历史可以追溯到几千年前的公元前，一直延续到今天。尽管已经投入了数十亿美元，但许多癌症研究人员/科学家和肿瘤学家都在大学、医院、癌症中心、商业实体（公司）和政府机构工作，他们无法发现“神奇子弹”，无法迅速消灭大多数癌症。也就是说，不仅能有效地消除起源部位的原发肿瘤，而且能消除通过转移细胞从起源部位产生的远处肿瘤的药物。幸运的是，近年来，一些研究人员已经获得证据表明，癌细胞的线粒体不仅参与部分提供必要的能量（ATP）来为其生长提供燃料，而且还掌握了它们不朽的秘密，以及转移（扩散）到身体其他部位的倾向。这篇介绍性文章以及后续的文章都集中讨论了线粒体在癌症转移中的可能作用，以及基于这一知识阻止癌症转移的策略。理想情况下，为了使患者成为“无癌”患者，所使用的抗癌药物必须 1）消除起源部位的原发肿瘤，2）消除通过转移在其他身体部位产生的任何肿瘤，3）消除血液中残留的任何肿瘤细胞，即循环肿瘤细胞。在作者实验室由杨 H. 高博士在世纪之交发现的小分子 3-溴丙酮酸（3BP）就是一种有前途的能够同时做到这三点的药物，它被证明是一种有效的抗癌药物[Ko 等人（2001）Can Lett 173:83-91]。
