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A new way to fight an extremely aggressive kind of brain tumor is showing promise in two experiments with a small number of patients.
在对少数患者进行的两次实验中，治疗一种侵袭性极强的脑肿瘤的新方法显现了希望。
For the experiments, scientists took patients' own immune cells and turned them into "living drugs" that can find and attack the tumor, called glioblastoma.
在实验中，科学家们提取了患者自身的免疫细胞，并将其转化为“活药物”，这种“活药物”可以发现并攻击被称为胶质母细胞瘤的肿瘤。
Researchers have reported that, in early tests, the immune cells have made the tumors temporarily smaller.
研究人员报告说，在早期测试中，免疫细胞使肿瘤暂时变小。
The treatment is called CAR-T therapy.
这种疗法被称为 CAR-T 疗法。
Doctors already use the treatment to fight blood-related cancers like leukemia.
医生已经用这种疗法来对抗白血病等与血液有关的癌症。
But researchers have struggled to make CAR-T therapy work for solid tumors.
但研究人员一直在努力尝试用 CAR-T 疗法治疗实体瘤。
Now, separate teams at both Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania are developing next-generation CAR-T therapy treatments.
现在，麻省总医院的研究团队和宾夕法尼亚大学的研究团队正在开发下一代 CAR-T 疗法。
They are designed to get past some of glioblastoma's defenses.
它们旨在突破胶质母细胞瘤的一些防御。
University of Pennsylvania's Dr. Stephen Bagley led one of the studies.
宾夕法尼亚大学的斯蒂芬·巴格利（Stephen Bagley）博士领导了其中一项研究。
He warned, "It's very early days."
他警告说：“现在还为时尚早。”
But he added, "We're optimistic that we've got something to build on here..."
但他补充说：“我们对此持乐观态度，因为我们已经有了一些基础……”
Glioblastoma is the brain cancer that killed U.S. President Joe Biden's son Beau Biden.
胶质母细胞瘤是导致美国总统乔·拜登的儿子博·拜登死亡的脑癌。
It also took the life of longtime Arizona Senator John McCain.
它还夺走了亚利桑那州资深参议员约翰·麦凯恩的生命。
Glioblastoma is fast-growing and hard to treat.
胶质母细胞瘤生长迅速，难以治疗。
Patients usually live 12 to 18 months after diagnosis.
患者在确诊后通常只能活 12 到 18 个月。
Even after many years of research, there are few options if the cancer returns after treatments.
即使经过多年的研究，如果癌症在治疗后复发，也没有什么办法。
A kind of cell in the immune system called T cells fight disease, but cancer has ways to hide.
免疫系统中有一种T细胞可以对抗疾病，但癌症有办法躲起来。
With CAR-T therapy, doctors genetically change a patient's own T cells so they can better find different cancer cells.
通过CAR-T疗法，医生从基因上改变患者自身的T细胞，使它们能更好地找到不同的癌细胞。
But solid tumors like glioblastoma have an additional difficulty.
但治疗像胶质母细胞瘤这样的实体瘤还有一个难题。
They contain mixtures of cancer cells with different mutations.
它们含有不同突变的癌细胞。
Targeting just one kind still means the other kinds can keep growing.
只针对一种癌细胞进行治疗意味着其他种类的癌细胞仍然可以继续生长。
The teams at Massachusetts General Hospital and University of Pennsylvania each developed a therapy with two different methods.
麻省总医院和宾夕法尼亚大学的研究小组分别用两种不同的方法开发了一种疗法。
They tried them in patients whose tumors returned after usual treatment.
他们在经过常规治疗后肿瘤复发的患者中进行了试验。
At Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Marcela Maus and her team combined CAR-T with T-cell engaging antibody molecules.
在麻省总医院，马塞拉·毛斯博士和她的团队将 CAR-T 与T细胞诱导型抗体分子相结合。
T-cell engaging antibody molecules are molecules that can attract nearby, regular T cells to join in the cancer attack.
T细胞诱导型抗体分子是一种可以吸引附近普通T细胞加入癌症攻击的分子。
The result, called CAR-TEAM, targets a protein called EGFR.
其结果被称为CAR-TEAM，针对一种叫做表皮生长因子受体（EGFR）的蛋白质。
EGFR is found in most glioblastomas but not in normal brain tissue.
表皮生长因子受体存在于大多数胶质母细胞瘤中，但不存在于正常脑组织中。
The University of Pennsylvania's method was to create a two-target CAR-T therapy.
宾夕法尼亚大学的方法是创造一种双靶点CAR-T疗法。
It hunts for both the EGFR protein plus a second protein found in many glioblastomas.
它既能猎杀表皮生长因子受体蛋白，也能猎杀在许多胶质母细胞瘤中发现的第二种蛋白。
Both teams administered the treatment through a medical device called a catheter into the fluid that surrounds the brain.
两个研究小组都通过一种叫做导管的医疗设备将治疗药物导入大脑周围的液体中。
Massachusetts General Hospital tested three patients with its CAR-TEAM therapy.
麻省总医院对三名患者进行了CAR-TEAM疗法测试。
Brain imagining a day or two later showed their tumors were quickly becoming smaller.
一两天后的脑成像显示，他们的肿瘤正在迅速变小。
The researchers reported their findings in the publication the New England Journal of Medicine.
研究人员在《新英格兰医学杂志》上报告了他们的发现。
Maus said, "None of us could really believe it."
毛斯说：“我们都不敢相信。”
Two of the patients' tumors began to regrow soon.
其中两名患者的肿瘤很快开始重新生长。
A second treatment given to one of them did not work.
对其中一人进行的第二次治疗没有奏效。
But one patient's response to the experimental treatment lasted more than six months.
但有一名患者对实验性治疗的反应持续了六个多月。
University of Pennsylvania researchers reported their findings in the publication Nature Medicine.
宾夕法尼亚大学的研究人员在《自然·医学》杂志上报告了他们的发现。
They similarly found that in the first six patients given its therapy tumors got smaller.
他们同样发现，在第一批接受该疗法的六名患者中，肿瘤变小了。
While some came back quickly, Bagley said one patient treated last August still has not had any regrowth.
虽然有些患者的肿瘤很快就复发了，但巴格利说，去年八月接受治疗的一名患者，肿瘤至今仍未复发。
For both teams, the goal is to see longer-lasting results.
对于这两个团队来说，目标都是看到更持久的效果。
Bagley said, "None of this is going to matter if it doesn't last."
巴格利说：“如果治疗效果不能持久，那么这一切都没有意义。”
I'm Gregory Stachel.
格雷戈里·斯塔切尔为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
