时差N小时 对抗癌症

If you or someone you know has had cancer, then you know how frightening and painful treatment can be.

如果你或你认识的人得了癌症，你就会知道治疗的过程是何其的可怕和痛苦。

But during the past few decades doctors have developed apromising new procedure called proton therapy that could revolutionize the way wefight cancer.

但是在过去的几十年里医生们已经研发出一种新的有前景的治疗过程，叫做质子治疗。

Proton therapy is basically a new kind of radiation treatment.

质子治疗可以彻底改变我们对抗癌症的方法。

Until recently, allradiation therapy used X-Rays.

质子治疗从根本上说是放射疗法的一种。

X-Rays are good at destroying cancer cells, but theproblem is that when they pass through the body, they attack not only cancer cellsbut also surrounding healthy cells.

直到最近，所有的放射疗法都是采用的X射线。X射线能够摧毁癌细胞，但问题是当穿过身体时，它们不仅攻击癌细胞，也同样会攻击周围的健康细胞。

So doctors have been forced to use radiation doses low enough to minimize damage to non-cancerous cells.

所以医生们一直被迫使用较低的辐射剂量来减少对非癌细胞的伤害。

Proton therapy is a more accurate way of attacking cancer with radiation.

质子疗法是用辐射治疗癌症一种更为准确的方法。

Unlike X-Rays, which go through a patient and out the other side, protons penetrate¹ only to the desired point and then stop.

与X射线不同的是，穿过病人身体并从身体的另一边出去时，质子只会穿透所需要的点，然后就停止。

So cells deeper in the body than where the tumor² is are not affected³.

因此，在人体内比肿瘤位置更深的细胞不会受到影响。

Protons also release most of their destructive energy just before they stop, sohealthy cells in front of the tumor get less radiation than the cancer cells do.

质子一停下来就会释放大部分的破坏性能量，所以肿瘤外部的健康细胞比癌细胞受到的辐射少。

Protontherapy's accuracy means that doctors can train high doses of proton radiation on tumors without worrying about causing collateral⁴ damage.

质子治疗的精确性意味着医生们可以在肿瘤的治疗上使用高剂量的质子辐射，并且不用担心会引起附带损害。

Proton radiation is not a miracle cure–in fact, it's limited to treating localizedcancers that have not spread throughout the body.

质子放射疗法其实并不是一个治疗的奇迹。它仅局限于治疗没有扩散到全身各处的局部肿瘤。

Still, it's an important new toolfor battling a deadly disease, especially for tumors deep inside the head or neck,where doing surgery would be too risky⁵.

不过它仍然是一个对抗致命疾病的重要工具，特别是对于头部和颈部深处的肿瘤，在那里做手术太冒险了。

1 penetrate   

v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解

参考例句：

• Western ideas penetrate slowly through the East.西方观念逐渐传入东方。
• The sunshine could not penetrate where the trees were thickest.阳光不能透入树木最浓密的地方。

2 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。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

5 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。