2009 Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine awarded for an enzyme in cancer.

摘要

In this month's issue, wc are publishing 10 review papers covering topics from cancer to obesity-related and metabolic diseases in terms of molecular targets and therapeutic strategies. These papers were initially presented at the 2nd Australia-China Biomedical Research Conference, held 24-27 April 2009 in Tianjin, China, and have been peer-reviewed and updated since the conference. Three of these papers summarize recent work on the enzyme telomerase, which was recently highlighted in the 2009 Nobel Prize presentation ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. Of all human diseases,cancer is a leading killer. It has been reported that, in 2002, there were approximately 24.6 million people alive with cancer, 10.9 million new cases diagnosed and 6.7 million deaths; in 2004, it was reported that there were 7.4 million deaths from cancer http://www.who.int/features/qa/15/en/ index.html). Lung cancer afflicts more than 965 000 men and386 000 women and 1.18 million people were reported to have died from lung cancer in 2002. It has been predicted by the World Health Organization (WHO) that the number of global deaths due to cancer would increase by 45% from 2007 to 2030 (http://www.who.int/features/qa/ 15/en/index.html). In Australia, there are almost 12 000 women who are newly diagnosed with breast cancer each year and 2710 deaths. Furthermore, there are approximately 8200 new cases of lung cancer diagnosed in Australia each year. Ovarian cancer is the eighth most common cancer diagnosed in Australian women. For example, 1273 women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2002; in 2004, 851 women died from ovarian cancer. Researching the mechanisms of ovarian ageing and cancers, Li et al have reviewed recent findings that the female steroid hormone oestrogen is involved in stimulating the telomerase, which is required for most cancers to be immortal. Li et al. proposed that both oestrogen and telomerase behave as double-edged swords: there is too little of both in ageing, but too much in cancer of the ovary. The connection between oestrogen and telomerase may lend further support to anti-oestrogen therapy for oestrogen-related tumours and identify new therapeutic approaches that regulate the interaction between oestrogen and telomerase.