封面專題•COVER STORY 澳大新語•2020 UMAGAZINE 22 23 女性體內雌激素水平越高，患卵巢癌和 乳腺癌的風險就越大。針對雌激素受體 （ER）陽性的乳腺癌，雌激素競爭性抑 制劑展現了顯著療效，但同類方法用於 卵巢癌時療效卻普遍不佳。狄教授的團 隊發現，原來卵巢癌細胞內ER的行為模 式與其在乳腺癌細胞中的不同，通過和 C端結合蛋白（CtBP）組成複合物，ER 可以減低卵巢癌細胞DNA損傷後的修復 能力。 治療卵巢癌的方法主要是手術切除卵巢 及化療。不過，患者失去製造雌激素的 卵巢後，可能會出現因雌激素缺失而導 致的併發症。醫學界普遍擔心，如果為 緩解併發症而給予卵巢癌病人雌激素， 會降低治療效果和增加復發風險。「但 我們的實驗結果顯示，雌激素能通過ER 及CtBP，降低卵巢癌細胞DNA損傷修 復的能力，而且化療藥物聯用雌激素對 卵巢癌細胞的殺傷力優於化療藥物單獨 處理對癌細胞的殺傷力，說明雌激素的 補充對於卵巢癌患者的化療可能是有益 的。」他補充說，這個結論和臨床上觀 察到的部分接受雌激素替代療法的卵巢 癌患者其預後較好也是一致的。 Scholars know that the level of estrogen and the risk for ovarian and breast cancer are positively correlated. In clinical practice, the application of estrogen agonist in treating the estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer has achieved remarkable success. (editor’s note: the estrogen receptor, or ER, is the factor that mediates the estrogen effect inside the cell.) However, the same method has shown an unsatisfactory effect in treating ovarian cancer which, in most cases, is also ER-positive. Prof Di’s team has found that the difference is caused by the distinct behaviour of ER, which forms a complex with the C-terminal binding protein (CtBP) in ovarian cancer cells and inhibits the expression of DNA damage repair (DDR) genes. Prof Di points out that treating ovarian cancer often involves ovariectomy followed by chemotherapy. However, if the patient’s ovaries, which produce estrogen, are removed during surgery, complications may occur due to the lack of estrogen. In clinical practice, supplementing estrogen, or HRT, is not recommended to reduce the symptoms associated with ovariectomy because estrogen might influence the effect of cancer therapy and increase the risk of cancer relapse. Prof Di says: ‘Our data show that estrogen is able to reduce the DDR capacity of cancer cells. More importantly, combining estrogen with chemotherapy is a more effective way to kill cancer cells than using chemotherapy alone, suggesting that supplementing estrogen will benefit the chemotherapy of ovarian cancer patients.’ He further comments that: ‘In fact, the ovarian cancer patients who happened to receive the HRT showed better survival rates according to some of the previous studies, which is consistent with our conclusion.’ 狄利俊教授加入澳大前曾於美國國家癌症研究所擔任訪問學者。主要研究基因表達的轉錄調控機制和基因表達調控網 絡，通過探索癌症等疾病的異常基因表達，瞭解癌症的機制、發生發展、惡化和轉移等。 Before joining the University of Macau, Prof Di Lijun was a visiting fellow at the National Institutes of Health in the United States. He focuses on the mechanisms of transcriptional regulation of gene expression and gene expression regulatory network. He is also interested in understanding the mechanisms of human diseases such as cancer, by exploring the aberrant gene expression associated with these diseases. 狄利俊教授團隊的研究顯示，激素替代療法有助提升卵巢癌化療的成效。 Prof Di Lijun’s research shows that hormone replacement therapy may help improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy
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