VOA标准英语2015--Targeted Treatment May Improve Odds for Breast Cancer Patients

Targeted Treatment May Improve Odds¹ for Breast Cancer Patients

WASHINGTON—

New research could change the way breast cancer is treated.

When Shante Thomas was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer, it came as a complete shock.

"Am I going to die? Honestly, that's the first thing you think," she recalled.

With the right treatment, though, many women can expect to beat the disease; but, with more than 50 drugs to choose from, it's hard for doctors to know which ones will work best for any individual.  Add to that the fact that cancer-fighting drugs are highly toxic² and kill healthy cells along with the cancerous ones.

Right now, choosing the right drug is a guessing game; but, that may not always be the case.  Alex Walsh is one of the researchers at Vanderbilt University using lasers to study tumor³ particles called "organoids." 

"Organoids are small pieces of tumor that we grow in a petri dish, and they’re about 100 to 300 micrometers in diameter," said Walsh.

The tumor cells are microscopic⁴. When given a collagen gel, they grow just as they would inside a human body. The cells are naturally fluorescent⁵. So when the researchers add a cancer fighting drug, they can tell how well the drug works by measuring the amount of fluorescence. If a drug works, there are fewer cancer cells and less fluorescence.

"Our idea was to try to eliminate toxicities from ineffective treatments and then use drugs that are more effective in treating breast cancer," said Professor Melissa Skala, the lead researcher.

Skala said the hope is that with a more effective drug at the start of treatment, doctors can ultimately improve the survival of breast cancer patients.

“We know a lot of breast cancer patients initially⁶ respond to their therapy and then later, their tumor starts to grow and they succumb⁷ to their disease," said Skala.

Skala added that the next step is to see if the researchers can accurately⁸ predict which drugs will work before a patient is treated.

The hope is that this type of targeted therapy could be available to breast cancer patients in five to 10 years. Then, people like Shante Thomas won't automatically think a diagnosis⁹ of breast cancer is a death sentence.

1 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

2 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

3 tumor   

n.（肿）瘤，肿块(英)tumour

参考例句：

• He was died of a malignant tumor.他死于恶性肿瘤。
• The surgeons irradiated the tumor.外科医生用X射线照射那个肿瘤。

4 microscopic   

adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的

参考例句：

• It's impossible to read his microscopic handwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。
• A plant's lungs are the microscopic pores in its leaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。

5 fluorescent   

adj.荧光的，发出荧光的

参考例句：

• They observed the deflections of the particles by allowing them to fall on a fluorescent screen.他们让粒子落在荧光屏上以观察他们的偏移。
• This fluorescent lighting certainly gives the food a peculiar color.这萤光灯当然增添了食物特别的色彩。

6 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

7 succumb   

v.屈服，屈从；死

参考例句：

• They will never succumb to the enemies.他们决不向敌人屈服。
• Will business leaders succumb to these ideas?商业领袖们会被这些观点折服吗？

8 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

9 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。