골수 아닌 지방조직으로 백혈병 치료
카이스트 연구팀, 혈액줄기세포 추출 성공
 
 
  이근영 기자 
 
출처 : 한겨레 2010-02-04 오후 09:16:21
http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/health/402924.html
 
국내 연구진이 동물 지방조직에서 백혈병 치료용 혈액줄기세포를 분리해내는 데 성공해 난치병 치료와 연구 비용을 크게 줄일 수 있는 길을 열었다.

고규영 한국과학기술원(카이스트) 생명과학과 교수 연구팀은 4일 지방조직에 들어 있는 비지방세포를 골수가 파괴된 쥐의 혈관에 주입한 결과, 이 세포에서 16주일 이상 혈액줄기세포가 새로 생겨나는 것을 관찰했다고 밝혔다. 그동안 백혈병 등 혈액계 난치병 치료를 위한 혈액줄기세포는 주로 성체의 골수에서 생겨나는 것으로 알려져 환자의 골수에서 직접 추출해왔으나, 과정이 고통스러운데다 양이 적어 치료와 연구에 어려움을 겪어왔다.

고 교수는 지방조직과 골수가 줄기세포의 성장과 재생산에 유리한 저산소 환경에 있고, 여러 세포로 분화할 수 있는 능력을 갖고 있는 등 비슷한 성질을 지니고 있는 점에 착안해 이번 연구를 시작했다고 밝혔다. 연구팀의 논문은 미국 혈액학회에서 매주 발간하는 학회지 <블러드> 4일치의 표지논문으로 실렸다. 특히 미 혈액학회는 2~3개월에 한 번씩 언론에 보도를 권유하는 우수한 연구 성과로 연구팀의 논문을 소개해 <유피아이>(UPI) 통신 등이 보도했다.

고 교수는 “인체를 대상으로 한 임상시험으로 연구를 확대할 계획”이라고 말했다.

이근영 선임기자 kylee@hani.co.kr

비만으로 인해 발생하는 암(대장암, 자궁내막암, 유방암 등)이 흡연으로 인해 발생하는 암을 능가할 것이라는 전망을 담은 연구결과가 베를린에서 열린 유럽암학회(European Cancer Organization)-유럽종양내과학회(European Society for Medical Oncology) 합동학술회의에서 발표되었습니다.

해마다 영국에서 발생하는 30만건의 암 중에서 1만3천건 가량이 비만과 관련이 있으며, 유럽에서 여성 비만으로 인한 질병 발생이 남성에 비해 3배 가량 많다고 합니다.

앤드류 레니헌(Andrew Renehan) 박사는 “비만이 10년 내에 여성에게 가장 큰 발암원인이 될 것”로 전망했습니다.

앤드류 레니헌(Andrew Renehan) 박사팀은 BMI (body mass index) 25 이상의 비만일 경우 암의 원인이 된다는 모델을 이용하여  EU 30개국을 대상으로 분석을 실시했습니다.

 그 결과 EU 30개국에서 2002년 200만명 당 7만명이 비만으로 인해 암에 걸린 것으로 추산되었습니다.

그런데 2008년에는 거의 2배에 가까운 124,050명으로 늘어 났습니다.

남성의 경우 과체중과 비만과 연관된 암 발생률은 3.2%, 여성의 경우 8.6%로 나타났습니다.

영국의 경우 비만과 관련된 암은 남성 4.8%, 여성 3.3%로 나타났습니다.

과학자들은 인슐린이나 에스트로겐 같은 호르몬 분비 증가에 의해 지방조직이 암을 발생하도록 영향을 끼친다고 믿고 있습니다.

현재까지 흡연은 가장 큰 단일 발암원인이며, 남성과 여성의 암 사망자 4명 중 1명(25%)은 흡연이 발암 원인이었습니다.

* 일부 학자들은 비만을 느리게 진행되는 전염병으로 규정하고 있으며, 패스트 푸드와 화학첨가물을 그 원인으로 지목하고 있습니다.

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Being fat could become the biggest cause of cancer in women, warn researchers

By Daily Mail Reporter

출처 : [Daily Mail] Last updated at 12:01 AM on 25th September 2009
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1215850/Being-overweight-leading-cause-cancer-women-say-scientists.html?ITO=1490

New predictions about the impact of obesity suggest it could soon overtake smoking as the key trigger for cancers such as those of the bowel, womb and breast.

Almost one in ten new cases of the disease among women in Europe are currently attributed to being overweight or obese – almost three times more than men – according to data presented at a major conference in Berlin.

At least 13,000 cases of cancer are blamed on obesity in Britain, out of almost 300,000 cases diagnosed each year.

Cancer expert Dr Andrew Renehan, said: Obesity is catching up at a rate that makes it possible it could become the biggest attributable cause of cancer in women within the next decade.’

His team designed a model to estimate the number of cancers caused by overweight, which  a BMI (body mass index) of 25 or more – in 30 European countries.

In 2002, they calculated that 70,000 cases of cancer out of about 2 million cancer cases were attributable to being overweight or obese in 30 European countries.

By 2008, the number had jumped to at least 124,050 – approaching double.

In men, 3.2 per cent of new cancers could be attributed to being overweight or obese and in women it was 8.6 per cent. 

Obesity related cancers in the UK were 4.8 per cent for women and 3.3 per cent for men.

Cancer of the womb lining, post-menopausal breast cancer and bowel cancer accounted for the largest numbers of weight-related cancers.

Scientists believe fat tissue affects cancer risk by increasing levels of hormones such as insulin and oestrogen.

Smoking currently accounts for one in four cancer deaths in men and women – by far the biggest single cause of the disease.

But as more people quit, experts predict this figure will drop and be overtaken by obesity as the leading cause of the disease.

Dr Renehan said a fall in the number of women on Hormone Replacement Therapy following fears about breast cancer may have boosted the number of cancers attributed to obesity,

HRT use may have masked and diluted the effect of being overweight on the incidence of the disease.

He said: ‘In women who used HRT it wasn’t clear what proportions of breast cancers were caused by HRT or by obesity. In women who don’t take HRT, the effect of obesity was much clearer.

‘Now that far fewer women are using HRT, it is much easier to see the effect of obesity on the incidence of breast cancer, and also on endometrial cancer. Consequently, the proportions of these cancers attributable to obesity have increased.’ 

Dr Renehan added: ‘I must emphasise that we are trying not to be sensationalist about this. These are very conservative estimates, and it’s quite likely that the numbers are, in fact, higher.’

The number of cases of obesity-related oesophageal cancers was especially high in the UK, where there are around 2,000 cases a year.

‘This country accounts for 54 per cent of new cases across all 30 countries’ said Dr Renehan. ‘This may be due to synergistic interactions between smoking, alcohol, excess body weight and acid reflux – and is currently an area where research is required.’

Henry Scowcroft, Cancer Research UK’s science information manager, said ‘Although the numbers differ from other similar analyses, this is a good, strong study which confirms that obesity is an important avoidable cause of cancer.

‘These results provide important and sobering projections for the present and future impact of obesity on European  cancer rates.’

Scientists aren’t sure why being fat boosts your cancer risk, but suspect it is connected to hormones.

As people become fatter, they produce more hormones like estrogen that help tumors grow. People with big bellies also have more acid in their stomachs, which can lead to stomach, intestinal or esophageal cancer.

Still, not all experts said obesity would produce skyrocketing cancer rates in the near future.

‘It is not likely (obesity) will have as severe an effect as smoking,’ said Jan Coebergh, a professor of cancer surveillance at Erasmus University, who has done similar research.

Coebergh expected it would take a few decades before rounder Europeans would see a parallel rise in cancer, since the disease often takes years to develop.

Still, scientists called for more measures to fight obesity and the cancers it might cause. Renehan said new strategies were needed to help people stay slim.

‘We need to find the biological mechanism to help people find other ways of tackling obesity,’ he said. ‘Just telling the population to lose weight obviously hasn’t worked.’