以肉毒杆菌毒素制成的注射剂Botox抹平了无数人脸上的皱纹，而挪威和美国一项新研究表明，它也许还能用于治疗胃癌。

研究人员近日在美国《科学—转化医学》杂志上报告说，神经系统在许多器官的调控中起着至关重要的作用，其中胃迷走神经会通过释放一种叫做乙酰胆碱的物质刺激胃肿瘤的生长，而Botox能够抑制迷走神经释放乙酰胆碱。

研究负责人之一、挪威科技大学医学院教授陈端告诉新华社记者，在小鼠实验中，他们把Botox直接注射到肿瘤所在的胃壁，结果肿瘤缩小，患癌鼠生存时间延长。

陈端和美国哥伦比亚大学等机构同行还尝试了其他3种方法来切断神经与肿瘤之间的联系，包括手术切除胃迷走神经、给予一种药物阻断乙酰胆碱受体以及敲除受体基因，也都成功抑制肿瘤生长。

陈端说，迷走神经切除手术和注射Botox的抗癌效应尤其明显，其中“Botox非常有效，特别令人兴奋”，因为这开辟了治疗胃癌的一种新途径，并且安全、廉价、副作用小。他们很快会在挪威启动第二期人类临床研究。

研究人员说，这种药剂在治疗胃癌方面可用于不宜施行手术的胃癌患者、已接受化疗但不再对化疗有反应的患者、因化疗毒性反应无法接受化疗的患者或不愿接受化疗的患者。（来源：新华社 林小春）

Denervation suppresses gastric tumorigenesis

Abstract  The nervous system plays an important role in the regulation of epithelial homeostasis and has also been postulated to play a role in tumorigenesis. We provide evidence that proper innervation is critical at all stages of gastric tumorigenesis. In three separate mouse models of gastric cancer, surgical or pharmacological denervation of the stomach (bilateral or unilateral truncal vagotomy, or local injection of botulinum toxin type A) markedly reduced tumor incidence and progression, but only in the denervated portion of the stomach. Vagotomy or botulinum toxin type A treatment also enhanced the therapeutic effects of systemic chemotherapy and prolonged survival. Denervation-induced suppression of tumorigenesis was associated with inhibition of Wnt signaling and suppression of stem cell expansion. In gastric organoid cultures, neurons stimulated growth in a Wnt-mediated fashion through cholinergic signaling. Furthermore, pharmacological inhibition or genetic knockout of the muscarinic acetylcholine M3 receptor suppressed gastric tumorigenesis. In gastric cancer patients, tumor stage correlated with neural density and activated Wnt signaling, whereas vagotomy reduced the risk of gastric cancer. Together, our findings suggest that vagal innervation contributes to gastric tumorigenesis via M3 receptor–mediated Wnt signaling in the stem cells, and that denervation might represent a feasible strategy for the control of gastric cancer.

原文链接：http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/6/250/250ra115.full.pdf