封面專題•COVER STORY 澳大新語•2020 UMAGAZINE 22 29 比較輕微，但主要限於治療皮膚癌，較 難對付其他癌症。他解釋，用來激活光 敏劑的紫外光通常穿透力較弱，無法到 達深層組織內的腫瘤，而且要精確判 斷這些腫瘤的位置和性質也不容易。更 大的問題是，腫瘤微環境本身氧氣量很 低（醫學界稱為「腫瘤乏氧」）。換言 之，即使光敏劑被激活，周圍也沒有足 夠的氧氣轉化為活性氧。 為了克服這些問題，袁教授與其他研究 人員開發了一種新藥物，同時用於腫瘤 診斷和治療。它能作為多種醫學影像技 術的示蹤劑，協助掃描深層組織，找出 腫瘤的位置和性質。在腫瘤所在的深層 組織，這種藥物同時可以作為光敏劑， 在波長為808納米的近紅外光照射下被 激活，從而製造氧氣殺滅癌細胞。此 外，這種藥物還能在腫瘤微環境釋放一 種抑制劑，減低癌細胞呼吸作用的頻率 和耗氧量，提高光動力療法的成效。 相關論文已獲知名期刊《生物材料》刊 登。袁教授表示，這項研究的潛在臨床 應用價值相當高，因此計劃申請專利， 同時將與其他大學合作開展臨床測試， 進一步瞭解這種藥物的特性。 The side effects of PDT are usually mild. It is mainly used to treat skin cancer. But in order to use it to treat other types of cancer, there are a few technical challenges that need to be overcome. First, the ultraviolet (UV) light commonly used in PDT cannot penetrate the superficial layers of skin to reach deeper tissues and tumours. Second, it is difficult to determine the exact location and characteristics of tumours in deeper tissues. Third, the tumour microenvironment has low oxygen levels, a condition known as ‘hypoxia’. Therefore, even when photosensitisers are activated by light in deeper tissues, there might not be enough oxygen for the drugs to work with. To tackle these problems, Prof Yuan’s team developed a drug for the diagnosis of and treatment for tumours. Radiographers can use this drug as a tracer in several types of medical imaging scans to generate a clear picture of tumours in deeper tissues. Furthermore, this drug can be activated under the irradiation of 808 nm near-infrared light to produce more reactive oxygen species, which can kill cancer cells. More innovatively, this drug can also release an inhibitor to reduce the frequency of respiration of cancerous cells and their oxygen consumption. By making more oxygen available in the tumour microenvironment, this drug can increase the effectiveness of PDT. A research paper on this drug has been published by Biomaterials, a leading academic journal in the field. Given the photosensitiser’s enormous clinical potential, Prof Yuan’s team plans to apply for a patent and to work with experts at other universities for further clinical tests. 袁振教授主要從事生物醫學光子學、神經科學和腦功能成像、光學分子影像和癌症方面的研究，至今發表超過200篇 SCI期刊論文。目前是《Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery》的編輯委員會成員，以及《BMC Medical Imaging》和《Frontiers in Human Neuroscience》的副主編。 Prof Yuan Zhen’s research interests include biomedical photonics, neurosciences, neuroimaging, and cancer research. He has published over 200 articles in SCI-indexed journals. He is an associate editor of both BMC Medical Imaging and Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, as well as a member of the editorial board of Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery. 多組患癌的實驗鼠分別接受一項不同的治療，當中包括注射 UNMM‑Ce6‑ATO‑PEG。圖為這些實驗鼠的生存曲線圖。 Several groups of tumour-bearing mice received different types of treatment, including the injection of UNMM-Ce6-ATO-PEG. This graph shows the mice’s survival rates after treatment.
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