Cure for cancer may be here③

江西 罗焕慧

□语篇导读

癌症的治愈一直是医学上的难题，人们谈癌色变。你知道癌症的治疗漫长又痛苦，癌症晚期基本上就意味着死亡吗？近期，美国批准了首个癌症基因疗法，这给白血病患者带去了福音，患者可用自己的免疫细胞战胜病魔。至此，人类将有望利用基因重新编码技术治愈更多的癌症患者。

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(疗法)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(化疗)to allow his body to adjust to the new cells.The recovery rate(康复率)is about 83%.

FDA announces that with the ability to reprogram (重新编码)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(难治的)illnesses.

◆词语沉淀

1.deadly/'dedli/adj.致命的；非常的；死一般的

2.approve/ə'pruːv/v.批准；赞成

3.immune cells免疫细胞

4.option/'ɒpʃən/n.[计]选项；选择权

5.attack/ə'tæk/vt.攻击；抨击；动手干

6.adjust/ə'dʒʌst/v.调整；校准；调节；使适应

◆典句赏析

1.Across the world,countless amounts of time and money have been spent in researching a cure for it.全世界在研究癌症的治愈方法上花费了不计其数的时间和金钱。

amounts of...意为“大量的……，相当数量的……”，用来修饰不可数名词，表示数量；spend time/money in doing为常见的句型搭配，意为“花时间（金钱）做……”；have been spent作为谓语动词是现在完成时的被动语态结构。

【即时尝试】这女孩的空闲时间几乎都花在了健身上。

2.It's similar to how the body fights off other illnesses.这与人体击退其他疾病的方式相似。

be similar to...意为“和……相似；类似于”，此句中it指代前文中提到的内容：经过科学家培育的干细胞放回体内清除白血病。

【即时尝试】我爸爸和我吃东西的方式相似。

3.New technologies are sure to help treat and even cure many intractable illnesses.新科技必将帮助人类治疗甚至治愈很多难治的疾病。

be sure to do意为“必定会做……”，常用来表达说话者肯定的语气；help后接动词不定式to do作宾语，意为“帮助做……”，此时不定式符号to也可以省略。

【即时尝试】我相信我的朋友们定会帮助完成这项艰巨的任务。

译文助读

癌症被认为是人类致命的疾病。全世界在研究癌症的治愈上花费了不计其数的时间和金钱。

但是现在看来这个答案似乎一直就存在于我们自己的体内。近来，美国食品和药物管理局（FDA），提出了一项新的基因疗法可以终止白血病，即一种血液方面的癌症。

这种疗法可让科学家培养病人的免疫细胞来抗击白血病。首先科学家从病人体内取出称之为干细胞的健康免疫细胞，然后改变，使它能对癌细胞“穷追猛打”，再将其放回病人体内去清除白血病。这与人体击退其他疾病的方式相似。

迄今为止，持久痛苦的骨髓移植是很多白血病患者的唯一选择。在这个过程中，医生从捐赠者体内取出干细胞移植到病人体内，病人得经历可怕的化疗以让身体能适应新的细胞。其康复率约为83%。

FDA宣告有了重新编码病人自己的细胞能力后，白血病患者痛苦的治疗过程甚至是面对死亡的时代就有望结束。新科技必将帮助人类治疗甚至治愈很多难治的疾病。