Faculty of Health, School of Medicine, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, VIC 3216, Australia.
Graduate School of Pharmacy, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia.
Biomolecules. 2021 Sep 21;11(9):1394. doi: 10.3390/biom11091394.
The World Health Organisation reported COPD to be the third leading cause of death globally in 2019, and in 2020, the most common cause of cancer death was lung cancer; when these linked conditions are added together they come near the top of the leading causes of mortality. The cell-biological program termed epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays an important role in organ development, fibrosis and cancer progression. Over the past decade there has emerged a substantial literature that also links EMT specifically to the pathophysiology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as primarily an airway fibrosis disease; COPD is a recognised strong independent risk factor for the development of lung cancer, over and above the risks associated with smoking. In this review, our primary focus is to highlight these linkages and alert both the COPD and lung cancer fields to these complex interactions. We emphasise the need for inter-disciplinary attention and research focused on the likely crucial roles of EMT (and potential for its inhibition) with recognition of its strategic place mechanistically in both COPD and lung cancer. As part of this we discuss the future potential directions for novel therapeutic opportunities, including evidence-based strategic repurposing of currently used familiar/approved medications.
世界卫生组织报告称，2019 年 COPD 是全球第三大致死原因，2020 年肺癌是癌症死亡的最常见原因；将这些相关疾病加在一起，它们接近主要死亡原因的前几位。被称为上皮-间充质转化 (EMT) 的细胞生物学程序在器官发育、纤维化和癌症进展中发挥重要作用。在过去的十年中，大量文献也将 EMT 与慢性阻塞性肺疾病 (COPD) 的病理生理学联系起来，主要是作为一种气道纤维化疾病；COPD 是肺癌发展的公认的强独立危险因素，超过了与吸烟相关的风险。在这篇综述中，我们的主要重点是强调这些联系，并提醒 COPD 和肺癌领域注意这些复杂的相互作用。我们强调需要跨学科关注和研究 EMT 的可能关键作用（及其抑制的潜力），并认识到它在 COPD 和肺癌中的机制上的战略地位。作为这一部分的一部分，我们讨论了新型治疗机会的未来潜在方向，包括基于证据的对目前使用的熟悉/批准药物的战略重新定位。
