VOA标准英语2011--Researchers Identify New Target in Cance

Researchers Identify New Target in Cancer Fight

Scientists have identified a new way of fighting cancer that limits the growth and spread of a variety of tumors in laboratory animals.
When you get a cut, the area quickly becomes inflamed² - swollen³, red, and tender as the body's immune system sends white blood cells to fight infection and heal the wound.
The immune system reacts to many cancers in much the same way, says University of California, San Diego researcher Judith Varner.
"The white blood cells rush to the tumor¹ and attempt to heal the 'wound' in a manner that actually never stops," she explains. "And because it doesn't stop, because the cancer doesn't go away, the white blood cells actually help the cancer to grow."
That happens when the immune system cells are 'hijacked⁴' by the tumor in a way that fosters the growth and spread of tumors.
Varner and her colleagues identified a specific enzyme⁵ called PI-3 kinase gamma that allows the immune cells to get into the tumor, where it can be compromised.
They figured out how to block PI-3 kinase gamma, using either drugs or genetic⁶ methods, in laboratory mice.
"When we treated animals with early tumors, we found that we could stop the stage of tumor at the early stage, and we prevented the invasive stage from developing. And that's only by targeting the inflammation, even without a drug that affects the tumor cell itself," Varner says.
In addition to the mice with breast cancer, the researchers also used this approach on a variety of other cancers in laboratory animals and found it was consistently effective across a range of different kinds of tumors.
"So we were able to inhibit⁷ half of all the tumor growth in pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, melanoma, lung cancer. And there's every reason to believe that any other solid tumor cancer would be also responsive."
Varner says suppressing PI-3 kinase gamma might in theory also be effective to reduce the risk of cancer in the first place, in cases where chronic⁸ inflammation contributes to tumor formation.
She says human testing of PI-3 kinase gamma inhibitors to battle cancer could begin as soon as a year or so from now.
Judith Varner of the University of California, San Diego and her colleagues report on this new approach to tumors in the journal Cancer Cell.

1 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。

2 inflamed   

adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His comments have inflamed teachers all over the country. 他的评论激怒了全国教师。
• Her joints are severely inflamed. 她的关节严重发炎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

4 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

5 enzyme   

n.酵素，酶

参考例句：

• Above a certain temperature,the enzyme molecule will become unfolded.超过一定温度，酶分子将会展开。
• An enzyme that dissolves the fibrin of blood clots.能溶解血凝块中的纤维的酶。

6 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

7 inhibit   

vt.阻止，妨碍，抑制

参考例句：

• Don't let ego and greed inhibit clear thinking and hard work.不要让自我和贪婪妨碍清晰的思维和刻苦的工作。
• They passed a law to inhibit people from parking in the street.他们通过一项法令以阻止人们在街上停车。

8 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。