Duffy M J
Department of Nuclear Medicine, St. Vincent's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Eur J Cancer Clin Oncol. 1987 May;23(5):583-9. doi: 10.1016/0277-5379(87)90326-9.
The main difference between a benign and malignant tumor is the ability of the malignant form to invade normal tissue and spread or metastasize to distant sites throughout the body. It is the ability to form metastasis which makes cancer such a difficult disease to treat. Evidence suggesting that proteolytic enzymes are involved in cancer spread is as follows: proteases are involved in normal destructive events and tissue remodelling, correlations exist between different protease activities and metastatic potential in model tumor systems, inhibitors and antibodies against proteases inhibit metastasis in model systems and the finding of highest levels of protease activity at the invading front in tumors. The most likely mechanism by which proteases could mediate metastasis is by catalyzing degradation of the extracellular matrix and basement membranes. It is concluded that if proteases could be proved to play a role in the spread of human cancers, inhibition of these enzymes could open up new therapeutic approaches for the control of malignancy.
良性肿瘤与恶性肿瘤的主要区别在于恶性肿瘤能够侵袭正常组织并扩散或转移至全身各处的远处部位。正是形成转移的能力使得癌症成为一种难以治疗的疾病。提示蛋白水解酶参与癌症扩散的证据如下：蛋白酶参与正常的破坏过程和组织重塑；在模型肿瘤系统中，不同蛋白酶活性与转移潜能之间存在相关性；针对蛋白酶的抑制剂和抗体在模型系统中可抑制转移；在肿瘤的侵袭前沿发现蛋白酶活性水平最高。蛋白酶介导转移最可能的机制是催化细胞外基质和基底膜的降解。得出的结论是，如果能够证明蛋白酶在人类癌症扩散中起作用，抑制这些酶可能会为控制恶性肿瘤开辟新的治疗途径。
