VOA常速英语:“天下无癌”不再是梦？

Scientists at Pfizer, a pharmaceutical giant and AbbVie Stemcentrx, a small biotech firmhave developed a new drug that targets a number of aggressive types of cancer.These cancers are difficult to treat, and often reoccur.
来自制药业巨头辉瑞以及一家小型生物科技公司AbbVie Stemcentrx的数名科研人员共同研发出一种新药，能够靶向治疗多种顽固癌症。这些类型的癌症一般很难治疗，而且容易复发。

The drug these companies have developed works in mice and in monkeys, and human trial is underway.
两家公司所开发出的新药在白鼠和猴子身上测试均有效，目前正在进行临床测试。

We’re hoping to rip out the cancer by its roots, essentially.Like when you’re weeding a garden, you need to get the roots so that the weed doesn’t grow back,and the way we’ve designed this drugis to go after the roots of the tumor and we deliver this chemotherapy that essentially kills those cells."Mark Damelin spoke by Skype from Pfizer’s research center in New York.
“我们希望能从本质上彻底根除癌症。就好似给花园除杂草时，你得连根拔起才不会让它们有卷土重来的机会。而我们研制的这种药物正是直指肿瘤根部，在那里进行化疗，以便从根本上杀死癌细胞。”马克.达梅林在纽约的Pfizer研究中心时通过Skype说道。

The drug has a two-pronged approach —— it’s an antibody that helps fight off the cancer.Scientists have attached the chemotherapy drug to the antibody which is a protein molecule.The antibody attaches to a developing cancer cell to prevent it from growing, while the chemotherapy kills it.
该药物具有双管齐下的作用——作为一种抗体，它能够帮助机体抗击癌症。科研人员将化疗药物添加到这种实为蛋白分子的抗体中。当抗体附着到正在扩散的癌细胞时，它便能够抑制癌细胞的生长，而化疗药物会杀死癌细胞。

“This therapy is, essentially, a guided missile.”
“基本上，这种疗法就是癌症治疗领域的导弹。”

Damelin says close to 30 percent of patients with ovarian cancer in the trial are showing a positive response.These are patients for whom every other therapy has failed.
达梅林表示，近30%的卵巢癌患者在实验中呈阳性反应。而这些病人之前所试过的其他治疗方式均以失败告终。

The hope is that this new drug could replace standard chemotherapy.And because it is so targeted, it would be much less toxic and have fewer side effects.If it works, the scientists say it might also help patients with other kinds of cancers including cancers of the prostate,stomach, esophagus and an aggressive type of leukemia.
研究人员希望这种新型药物能够取代标准化疗。因为其针对性极强，所以毒性和副作用都小得多。科研人员表示，一旦此药有效，那么它就可以用来帮助其他类型的癌症患者，比如前列腺癌、胃癌、食道癌和恶性白血病。

A larger human trial is set to begin this year.If it succeeds, this drug could save the lives of people with these hard to treat cancers.
今年，研究人员将启动大规模的临床试验。如果试验成功，那些罹患难以治愈癌症的病人将再次迎来生命的曙光。

Carol Pearson, VOA news, Washington.
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