| Popis: |
Anecdotal reports of tumor regression following systemic bacterial infection have been observed for centuries. The first reported attempt to explore this effect in a systematic fashion took place in the 1890s, when Dr. William Coley, a New York surgeon, performed a series of studies evaluating anti-tumor therapy with bacteria and bacterial products. Dr. Coley’s original attempt to use bacteria as an anti-tumor agent involved the use of live cultures of streptococci injected directly into tumor masses (Coley 1893). This resulted in tumor regression in some cases but proved to be toxic, with the first patient almost dying of erysipelas. Subsequent studies by Coley involved a mixture of heat-killed streptococci and serratia (then known as Bacillus prodigiosus) (Coley 1894). This preparation was still quite toxic, but did result in some anti-tumor responses. It is this preparation that is now referred to as Coley’s toxin. Much of the antitumor activity of Coley’s toxin is attributed to endotoxin (Wiemann and Starnes 1994). However, it is curious to note that Coley’s original success was with an organism that does not produce endotoxin. Thus, additional bacterial components, such as bacterial DNA, may well have played a role in the observed responses. Indeed, recent reports have confirmed that cancer can regress following bacterial infection (Mori et al. 1997). |
