Cairncross J G
Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
J Neurooncol. 1987;5(2):99-104. doi: 10.1007/BF02571297.
Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is an example of a "well-differentiated" neoplasm that develops following neoplastic transformation of a precursor cell. The biology of astrocytic neoplasms can be interpreted in light of concepts that have emerged from studies of the myeloproliferative disorders. Astrocytomas may arise from a pluripotential precursor cell whose progeny, although transformed, retain the ability to differentiate, and do so along astrocytic lines. The result is a neoplasm composed of "mature" tumor cells, similar one to another, and resembling normal astrocytes. Malignant change, like blast crisis in CML, then occurs as a consequence of further molecular genetic events leading to accelerated growth and maturation arrest in a previously differentiating neoplastic cell. This hypothesis challenges the conventional view that astrocytomas arise from astrocytes and that malignant change occurs as a result of dedifferentiation. Extensions of this hypothesis may be relevant to the biology of other glial tumors.
慢性粒细胞白血病（CML）是一种“高分化”肿瘤的例子，它是在前体细胞发生肿瘤转化后发展而来的。星形细胞瘤的生物学特性可以根据从骨髓增殖性疾病研究中出现的概念来解释。星形细胞瘤可能起源于多能前体细胞，其后代虽然发生了转化，但仍保留分化能力，并沿着星形胶质细胞系进行分化。结果是形成了由“成熟”肿瘤细胞组成的肿瘤，这些肿瘤细胞彼此相似，且类似于正常星形胶质细胞。然后，如同CML中的急变期一样，恶性变化是进一步分子遗传事件的结果，导致先前分化的肿瘤细胞加速生长和成熟停滞。这一假说挑战了传统观点，即星形细胞瘤起源于星形胶质细胞，且恶性变化是去分化的结果。这一假说的扩展可能与其他神经胶质瘤的生物学特性相关。
