Cure for cancer may be here③

江西 羅煥慧

□語篇導讀

癌癥的治愈一直是醫學上的難題，人們談癌色變。你知道癌癥的治療漫長又痛苦，癌癥晚期基本上就意味著死亡嗎？近期，美國批準了首個癌癥基因療法，這給白血病患者帶去了福音，患者可用自己的免疫細胞戰勝病魔。至此，人類將有望利用基因重新編碼技術治愈更多的癌癥患者。

Cancer is known as a deadly disease for humans.Across the world,countless amounts of time and money have been spent in researching a cure for it.

But now,it seems like the answer could have been inside our own bodies the whole time.Recently,the Food and Drug Administration(FDA)in the US approved a new form of gene therapy(療法)that could stop leukemia(白血病)—a cancer in blood.

The therapy allows scientists to“train”the immune cells of patients to fight leukemia.First,scientists remove healthy immune cells called T-cells from the patient,which are then altered to be able to“hunt down”cancer cells.The cells are then put back into the patient to get rid of the patient's leukemia.It's similar to how the body fights off other illnesses.

Up until now,a drawn-out(持久的)and painful bone marrow transplant(骨髓移植)was the only option for many leukemia patients.In this procedure,T-cells are taken from a donor and placed into the sick patient,who also has to go through terrible chemotherapy(化療)to allow his body to adjust to the new cells.The recovery rate(康復率)is about 83%.

FDA announces that with the ability to reprogram (重新編碼)a patient's own cells to attack a deadly cancer,it's hoped that the days of painful trips to the hospital,or even death,are over for leukemia sufferers.New technologies are sure to help treat and even cure many intractable(難治的)illnesses.

◆詞語沉淀

1.deadly/'dedli/adj.致命的；非常的；死一般的

2.approve/?'pru?v/v.批準；贊成

3.immune cells免疫細胞

4.option/'?p??n/n.[計]選項；選擇權

5.attack/?'t?k/vt.攻擊；抨擊；動手干

6.adjust/?'d??st/v.調整；校準；調節；使適應

◆典句賞析

1.Across the world,countless amounts of time and money have been spent in researching a cure for it.全世界在研究癌癥的治愈方法上花費了不計其數的時間和金錢。

amounts of...意為“大量的……，相當數量的……”，用來修飾不可數名詞，表示數量；spend time/money in doing為常見的句型搭配，意為“花時間（金錢）做……”；have been spent作為謂語動詞是現在完成時的被動語態結構。

【即時嘗試】這女孩的空閑時間幾乎都花在了健身上。

2.It's similar to how the body fights off other illnesses.這與人體擊退其他疾病的方式相似。

be similar to...意為“和……相似；類似于”，此句中it指代前文中提到的內容：經過科學家培育的干細胞放回體內清除白血病。

【即時嘗試】我爸爸和我吃東西的方式相似。

3.New technologies are sure to help treat and even cure many intractable illnesses.新科技必將幫助人類治療甚至治愈很多難治的疾病。

be sure to do意為“必定會做……”，常用來表達說話者肯定的語氣；help后接動詞不定式to do作賓語，意為“幫助做……”，此時不定式符號to也可以省略。

【即時嘗試】我相信我的朋友們定會幫助完成這項艱巨的任務。

譯文助讀

癌癥被認為是人類致命的疾病。全世界在研究癌癥的治愈上花費了不計其數的時間和金錢。

但是現在看來這個答案似乎一直就存在于我們自己的體內。近來，美國食品和藥物管理局（FDA），提出了一項新的基因療法可以終止白血病，即一種血液方面的癌癥。

這種療法可讓科學家培養病人的免疫細胞來抗擊白血病。首先科學家從病人體內取出稱之為干細胞的健康免疫細胞，然后改變，使它能對癌細胞“窮追猛打”，再將其放回病人體內去清除白血病。這與人體擊退其他疾病的方式相似。

迄今為止，持久痛苦的骨髓移植是很多白血病患者的唯一選擇。在這個過程中，醫生從捐贈者體內取出干細胞移植到病人體內，病人得經歷可怕的化療以讓身體能適應新的細胞。其康復率約為83%。

FDA宣告有了重新編碼病人自己的細胞能力后，白血病患者痛苦的治療過程甚至是面對死亡的時代就有望結束。新科技必將幫助人類治療甚至治愈很多難治的疾病。