VOA健康报道2024--Researchers Study Gentler Cancer Treatments

Researchers Study Gentler Cancer Treatments

Reduced treatment for three kinds of cancer can make life easier for patients without hurting results, doctors reported recently at the world’s largest cancer conference.

The findings are part of a long-term move toward studying whether doing less surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation can help patients live longer and feel better. The latest studies involved ovarian and esophageal cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma.

Thirty years ago, cancer research was about doing more, not less. In one example, women with advanced breast cancer were pushed to the edge of death with large doses of chemotherapy and bone marrow¹ transplants². The treatment did not work any better than chemotherapy and patients suffered.

Now, in an effort to improve cancer care, researchers are asking: “Do we need all that treatment that we have used in the past?”

It is a question, “that should be asked over and over again,” said Dr. Tatjana Kolevska of the Kaiser Permanente National Cancer Excellence³ Program. Kolevska was not involved in the new research.

Often, doing less works because of improved drugs.

Dr. William G. Nelson of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine was also not involved in the new research. He said, “The good news is that cancer treatment is not only becoming more effective, it’s becoming easier to tolerate and associated with less short-term and long-term complications⁴.”

The term complications means to make a medical problem worse or to cause new medical problems to appear.

Studies showing the effects of reduced treatments were discussed recently at an American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago.

Here are a few key points:

Ovarian cancer

French researchers found that it is safe to avoid removing lymph nodes that appear healthy during surgery for advanced ovarian cancer. The study compared the results for 379 patients.

Half had their lymph nodes removed and half did not. After nine years, there was no difference in how long the patients lived.

Those with less-extreme surgery had fewer complications, such as the need for blood transfusions⁵. The research was financed⁶ by the National Institute of Cancer in France.

Esophageal cancer

A German study looked at 438 people with a kind of cancer of the esophagus that can be treated with surgery. Half received a common treatment plan that included chemotherapy and surgery on the esophagus, the tube that carries food from the throat to the stomach. Half got another treatment that includes radiation, too. Both techniques are considered standard. Which one patients get can depends on where they get treatment.

After three years, 57 percent of those who got chemo and surgery were alive, compared to 51 percent of those who got chemo, surgery and radiation. The German Research Foundation financed the study.

Hodgkin lymphoma

A comparison of two chemotherapy treatments for advanced Hodgkin lymphoma found the gentler treatment was more effective for the blood cancer and caused fewer side effects.

After four years, the gentler chemo kept the disease in control in 94 percent of people, compared to 91 percent of those who had the more powerful treatment. The trial included 1,482 people in nine countries — Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Australia and New Zealand.

The study was financed by Takeda Oncology, the maker⁷ of one of the drugs used in the gentler chemo that was studied.

Words in This Story

chemotherapy – n. the use of chemicals to treat or control cancer

advanced – adj. far along in a course of development

tolerate – v. to experience something unpleasant without being harmed

associate – v. (often + with) to connect with, to be linked with

standard -- adj. regularly or widely used

1 marrow   

n.骨髓；精华；活力

参考例句：

• It was so cold that he felt frozen to the marrow. 天气太冷了，他感到寒冷刺骨。
• He was tired to the marrow of his bones.他真是累得筋疲力尽了。

2 transplants   

n.（器官、皮肤、头发等的）移植( transplant的名词复数 )；移植的器官，移植物

参考例句：

• The heart transplants have been read about and discussed everywhere. 人们已读到关于心脏移植的报道，到处都在议论此事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A number of terms are used in various classifications of transplants. 移植物的各种分类中应用了一系列的名词。 来自辞典例句

3 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

4 complications   

（新出现的）困难，难题( complication的名词复数 )； 并发症； 曲折

参考例句：

• Complications set in, and the patient died. 病人因出现并发症而死亡。
• Normally there are no complications with the medicine. 服用这种药按理不会产生并发症。

5 transfusions   

n.输血( transfusion的名词复数 )；输液；倾注；渗透

参考例句：

• Still, transfusions have apparently never spread the disease, even among hemophiliacs. 还有，输血很明显从未传播过这种病，即使在血友病人之间也是如此。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 口蹄疫疯牛病
• Blood transfusions are a special, limited example of tissue transplantation. 输血是一个特殊的、有限制的组织移植的例子。 来自辞典例句

6 financed   

为…供给资金，从事金融活动( finance的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Capital expenditure can be financed by borrowing; operating expenditure should not. 资本支出可以靠借款，而运营费用不行。
• All purchases shall be financed with the proceeds of loan. 全部货款用贷款支付。

7 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。