Blood Cancer Therapy Is Last Chance for Some
时间：2019-01-12 作者：英语课 分类：2016年VOA慢速英语(三)月
Blood Cancer Therapy Is Last Chance for Some
An experimental therapy uses a person’s weak immune system to fight deadly blood cancers.
Stanley Riddell is a researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in the U.S. state of Washington. He and his colleagues added molecules 1 to immune cells that attack cancer cells. They put the modified cells back in the patient, where they multiply and fight cancer.
“So, that’s the one interesting thing about this. It doesn’t require repeated treatments or repetitive cycles of chemotherapy,” said Riddell.
“That’s what I think in the future may be most important for patients – that it’s a single treatment instead of many months of treatment.”
It has shown great promise in small trials with patients. In one study of 35 patients with a type of leukemia, 94 percent experienced a complete remission. Fifty percent to 80 percent of patients with other blood cancers also saw a reduction in symptoms.
Riddell said, “This is encouraging because these are all patients who have failed all conventional therapies, including many kinds of bone marrow 2 and stem cell transplants.”
Getting these very high rates of remission is “obviously very exciting for us,” he added. These patients do not have any other treatment options that are likely to work.
Immune system cells usually fight invading viruses and bacteria. They can also combat cancer. But they are soon overwhelmed by the disease.
The work by Hutchinson researchers increases this natural cancer-fighting ability.
Using the immune system has also shown promise against skin cancer and some lung cancers. But for other cancers, immunotherapy is considered a last resort.
Riddell said he thinks that may change. In some cases, it may be better than chemotherapy or even replace it, he said.
Words in This Story
therapy – n. the treatment of physical or mental disorders 3
immune system – noun phrase the body's natural defenses for fighting disease
leukemia – n. a serious disease in which the body forms too many white blood cells
remission – n. a period of time during a serious infection when the patient's health improves
conventional – adj. of a kind that has been around for a long time and is considered to be usual
marrow – n. a soft substance that fills the bones of people and animals
immunotherapy – n. a treatment that uses your body’s own natural defenses to help fight cancer
- The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
- Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。
- It was so cold that he felt frozen to the marrow. 天气太冷了，他感到寒冷刺骨。
- He was tired to the marrow of his bones.他真是累得筋疲力尽了。