Name: This Cell Might Hold the Answer to a Universal Cure for Cancer
Uploaded: 2020-08-28T19:25:34.000Z
Duration: 4 min 33 s

Brand new work in the fast-growing field of immunotherapy is being hailed by some

在快速發展的免疫療法領域，全新的工作被一些人所稱道。

as a potential 'universal' cure for all cancers.

作為一種潛在的 "通用 "治療所有癌症的方法。

情態副詞

But how does that work? And is it close to actually happening?

但這是如何實現的呢？又是否接近於實際發生？

So, there are a couple of different types of immunotherapy,

所以，免疫療法有幾種不同的類型。

but this recent news relates to a very specific category called T-cell therapy.

但最近這則新聞涉及到一個非常特殊的類別，叫做T細胞療法。

The human body has a bunch of different kinds of immune cells,

人體有一堆不同種類的免疫細胞。

but this therapy uses only one kind: your T-cells, which are a kind of white blood cell.

但這種療法只用一種：你的T細胞，這是一種白血球。

These cells have surface molecules all over them called receptors,

這些細胞的表面分子遍佈，稱為受體。

and they patrol your body looking for stuff that shouldn't be there.

他們會在你的身體上巡邏，尋找不應該存在的東西。

It's basically a lock and key situation: if the lock is the receptor on the T-cell, the key is what's called an antigen.

基本上是鎖和鑰匙的情況：如果說鎖是T細胞上的受體，那麼鑰匙就是所謂的抗原。

That's a surface structure on whatever cell your body wants to get rid of,

那是你身體想擺脫的任何細胞的表面結構。

like one that's been infected by a virus.

Once the T-cell binds to the antigen, it activates different immune pathways to get rid of that unwanted intruder.

一旦T細胞與抗原結合，它就會激活不同的免疫途徑來擺脫這個不受歡迎的入侵者。

And immunotherapy leverages this natural process by basically hacking the system.

而免疫療法利用這一自然過程，從根本上破解了系統。

This is the idea behind existing T-cell therapies for cancer.

這就是現有的T細胞療法治療癌症的理念。

Scientists remove some of a patient's own T-cells,

科學家將患者自身的部分T細胞取出。

and they genetically engineer them to grow new receptors

他們對它們進行基因工程，以生長新的受體。

that are specific to whatever your personal cancer is.

不管你個人的癌症是什麼，都是特定的。

So your T-cells now have the right 'lock' that they need to be able to recognize the 'key' on your own cancer cells,

所以你的T細胞現在有了正確的 "鎖"，它們需要能夠識別你自己的癌細胞上的 "鑰匙"。

and then your body can attack and destroy them.

然後你的身體就可以攻擊和摧毀它們。

These therapies are really good tools to have in our arsenal of cancer solutions,

這些療法是我們解決癌症問題的武器庫中非常好的工具。

but they still can have negative side effects, they aren't always successful, and they're extremely expensive.

但他們仍然可以有負面的副作用，他們並不總是成功的，他們是非常昂貴的。

They're not universal, they only work in your body and no one else's.

它們不是通用的，它們只在你的身體裡起作用，而不是別人的。

So, we're looking for something better and broader.

所以，我們在尋找更好更廣泛的東西。

And a team out of Cardiff University may have just found a different lock.

而卡迪夫大學的一個團隊可能剛剛找到了一把不同的鎖。

They used CRISPR-Cas9 to create a library of modified cancer cells,

他們使用CRISPR-Cas9創建了一個修改後的癌細胞庫。

which helped them describe an entirely new T-cell that finds and binds to something called MR1.

這幫助他們描述了一種全新的T細胞，它能找到並結合一種叫做MR1的東西。

This is a cell-surface molecule that basically marks cancer cells as problematic.

這是一種細胞表面的分子，基本上標誌著癌細胞有問題。

Small side note here: CRISPR technologies have become super useful in cancer research,

小編在這裡順便說一下。CRISPR技術在癌症研究中已經變得超級有用。

and if you want to know more about it, 'cause it's really cool, check out the sources in the description.

如果你想知道更多關於它的資訊，因為它真的很酷，檢查出的來源在描述。

Anyway, it turns out, MR1 doesn't vary from person to person or from cancer to cancer.

總之，事實證明，MR1並不是因人而異，也不是因癌而異。

比如我的MR1和你的MR1是一樣的。

and it's the same on the surface of lung, liver, pancreatic, breast, melanoma cancer cells...I could keep going.

而在肺癌、肝癌、胰腺癌、乳腺癌、黑色素瘤癌細胞表面也是一樣的......我可以繼續說下去。

And if MR1 is a 'universal key'...then that means these T-cells could be a universal lock.

而如果MR1是一把'萬能鑰匙'......那就意味著這些T細胞可能是一把萬能鎖。

The Cardiff team has actually showed that these T-cells can kill lung, liver, breast, melanoma,

卡迪夫團隊其實已經表明，這些T細胞可以殺死肺癌、肝癌、乳腺癌、黑色素瘤。

and other cancer cells—all while leaving healthy cells alone.

和其他癌細胞--同時讓健康細胞單獨存在。

But that's just in cell culture, like in a dish.

但那只是在細胞培養中，比如在盤子裡。

So the team went further and introduced the MR1-targeting T-cells to mice

於是，團隊更進一步，將MR1靶向T細胞引入小鼠體內

with human immune systems and human cancer cells…

與人類免疫系統和人類癌細胞......。

and the T-cells controlled the spread of that cancer.

The team even successfully genetically engineered other T-cells from the blood of cancer patients to target MR1.

該團隊甚至從癌症患者的血液中成功地對其他T細胞進行了基因工程，以瞄準MR1。

These T-cells then proved successful in killing the patient's own tumor cells in a dish.

這些T細胞就被證明能成功殺死患者自身的腫瘤細胞，在盤中。

If scientists can develop a widely-applicable therapy from these findings,

如果科學家們能從這些發現中開發出一種廣泛適用的療法。

then our whole understanding of cancer—and the way we treat it—could fundamentally change.

那麼我們對癌症的整個理解--以及我們治療癌症的方式--就會發生根本性的改變。

These early results are certainly very promising and very exciting,

這些早期的成果無疑是非常有前途的，非常令人興奮。

and the research team has already entered into a partnership with a biotech company

和研究團隊已經與一家生物技術公司達成合作關係。

to hopefully develop a treatment they can actually bring to patients.

以期開發出一種他們能真正帶給患者的治療方法。

But this news should also be treated with caution.

There are many more steps left between that vision...and where we are now.

在這一願景與我們現在所處的位置之間，還有許多步驟。

So while it could be a huge step, we still don't know for sure if it could work for all cancers in all people,

是以，雖然這可能是一個巨大的步驟，但我們仍然不確定它是否能對所有人群的所有癌症起作用。

就像一些新聞標題所暗示的那樣。

And the team has to make sure that these T-cells really only attack cancer cells

而團隊必須確保這些T細胞真的只攻擊癌細胞。

and are actually safe for use in human patients, which could take a while.

並且實際上可以安全地用於人類患者，這可能需要一段時間。

This work is a very fundamental demonstration of something that could change

這項工作是一個非常基本的示範，可以改變的東西。

the way we treat cancer forever—but we've still got a lot of exploring to do first.

我們永遠治療癌症的方式--但我們還有很多探索要先做。

If you want even more on groundbreaking medical discoveries,

如果你想了解更多關於突破性的醫學發現。

then check out this video on heart patches over here, and subscribe to Seeker for all of your biomedical news.

然後在這裡查看這個關於心臟補丁的視頻，並訂閱Seeker，獲取所有的生物醫學新聞。

If you have something else cancer-related that you want to see us cover,

如果你有其他癌症相關的東西，你想看到我們的報道。

leave it for us in the comments below, and thanks so much for watching. I'll see you next time.

在下面的評論中為我們留下，非常感謝您的觀看。我們下次再見。