VOA标准英语2010年-US Approves New Prostate Cancer Treatm

African Maternal¹ and Child Mortality Rate Remains² High Despite Improvements Elsewhere
Doctors are calling it a milestone³. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a first-of-a-kind prostate cancer treatment. It is not a cure, but it can extend the lives of those fighting the disease. 

The idea is simple: use the body's immune system to fight cancer. Doctors have been developing these  immunotherapies for decades. Now they're saying there's a vaccine⁴ for prostate cancer.

Its name is Provenge.

In clinical trials, Provenge has been used on men like Tom Keil, men who look healthy, generally feel good, but have advanced prostate cancer, meaning it has spread to the bone or lymph nodes.

"Right now I'm in good shape.  There's no difficult problem with the cancer that I know of," he said.

The clinical trials show Provenge increases a patient's life span by an average of four months.  But some patients have lived much longer.

Dr. Charles Drake works on treatments for prostate cancer at Johns Hopkins University.  He tells VOA this is an important breakthrough. "Although four months doesn't sound like a lot, especially from the patient's point of view, I totally understand what you're saying, but in the world of cancer, a four-month survival with good quality of life, that's pretty significant, actually,' he said.

Provenge is not a traditional vaccine; it does not prevent disease.

It takes some of the patient's white blood cells which are then treated so they will attack the cancer.

Then the cells are re-injected into the patient. "It's been relatively⁵ easy. The hardest part is sitting down for two and a half to three hours while the white blood cells are taken out and separated.  I'm a restless person," he said.

Keil's doctor, Nancy Dawson, told VOA she likes it for other reasons. "It's a very well tolerated therapy. Very few side effects," she said.

And unlike chemotherapy or radiation, the treatment is quick.  "It's given as three infusions⁶, each one two weeks apart.  Basically, at the end of four weeks, you've finished the therapy," she said.

But there are things Provenge does not do. "It doesn't make the marker of (prostate) cancer, which is the PSA, it doesn't usually make the PSA decrease. It doesn't make their cancer regress," she said.

Some doctors would like to see Provenge used earlier in the disease, after initial surgery or radiation, to destroy any remaining cancer cells and extend life even more.  "I think we'll start to have the kind of clinical benefits that you alluded⁷ to, you know, more than four months.  We want long-term survival, frankly⁸.  Maybe a cure," said Dr. Drake.

Dr. Drake says this type of treatment will also be used for other types of cancer. 

It will take a while for Provenge to become widely available. But prostate cancer grows relatively slowly so many men may be able to benefit from this treatment.
 

1 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

4 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 infusions   

n.沏或泡成的浸液（如茶等）( infusion的名词复数 )；注入，注入物

参考例句：

• Intravenous infusions are also used to administer medications. 静脉输液也可作为一种给药方法。 来自辞典例句
• INTERPRETATION: GKI infusions significantly reduced plasma glucose concentrations and blood pressure. 结论：静脉滴注GKI显著降低血压和血糖浓度。 来自互联网

7 alluded   

提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In your remarks you alluded to a certain sinister design. 在你的谈话中，你提到了某个阴谋。
• She also alluded to her rival's past marital troubles. 她还影射了对手过去的婚姻问题。

8 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。