美国国家公共电台 NPR Cancer Drug That Might Slow Parkinson's, Alzheimer's Headed For Bigger Tests

 

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Scientists are hoping a cancer drug can help people with two common and disabling brain diseases - Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. A small study of the drug offered hints of its potential. Now two larger and more rigorous studies are underway, as NPR's Jon Hamilton reports.

JON HAMILTON, BYLINE¹: When Jonathan Lessin was 38, he noticed that his right pinky finger had started shaking.

JONATHAN LESSIN: I went to see a neurologist, and he diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. That was 14 years ago.

HAMILTON: Parkinson's gradually kills off brain cells that control movement. But for a decade after his diagnosis², Lessin was able to keep working as an anesthesiologist in Washington, D.C. He retired³ when his symptoms began to interfere⁴ with his work, and now the disease has begun to affect things like his speech.

LESSIN: It's slowly progressing. My balance is getting worse and worse. I'm falling more and more during the day, but I'm still able to do things like rock climb and ski and bike.

HAMILTON: Lessin has been able to stay active thanks to treatments that help control symptoms, but the disease continues to eat away areas of his brain. So Lessin was excited to learn about a study of a drug that might slow or halt that process.

LESSIN: Well I've always been riding the leading edge of treatment, and I just figure I'd go for it.

HAMILTON: The drug is called nilotinib. It's approved to treat a form of leukemia. And 18 months ago, researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center found that small doses of the drug appeared to help a handful of people with Parkinson's disease and a related form of dementia.

Fernando Pagan is a neurologist at Georgetown. He says that tentative finding got a lot of attention because no existing drug can stop these diseases.

FERNANDO PAGAN: Our phones were basically off the hook after the press releases came out.

HAMILTON: Pagan says nilotinib seems to work by eliminating toxic⁵ proteins that build up in the brains of people with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. He says the drug activates⁶ a mechanism⁷ in brain cells that acts like a sort of garbage disposal grinding up bad proteins.

PAGAN: Our drug goes into the cells to turn on that garbage disposal mechanism. And if we are able to degrade these proteins, we could potentially stop the progression of this disorder⁸.

HAMILTON: Potentially. To learn more about nilotinib, Georgetown has launched two studies - one for people with Parkinson's, the other for people with Alzheimer's. Pagan says the primary goal is to learn whether this powerful cancer drug is safe enough for patients with brain diseases, but the new study should also provide better evidence about whether the drug really works.

J. Paul Taylor, a researcher at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, says the new studies are important because the initial study gave many scientists pause.

J PAUL TAYLOR: The pause comes from the fact that it was such a small trial. There was no placebo⁹ control, and it really wasn't designed to assess efficacies.

HAMILTON: Jonathan Lessin says, as a former physician, he understands those caveats¹⁰, but as someone with Parkinson's, he sees an opportunity.

LESSIN: I'm very optimistic. I've seen it cure Parkinson's in mice. I've seen people that can talk again, walk again, which is very encouraging.

HAMILTON: And Paul Taylor says there's good reason for optimism. He says drugs like nilotinib are coming along because scientists have a better understanding of diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

TAYLOR: If the results of this trial don't turn out to be as exciting as the very tiny trial suggested, I would not get too pessimistic because there are other developments that are in the wings.

HAMILTON: The Georgetown studies are enrolling¹¹ patients now and will take more than a year to complete. Jon Hamilton, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF PANTHA DU PRINCE SONG, "NOMAD'S RETREAT")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

3 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

4 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

5 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

6 activates   

使活动，起动，触发( activate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Activates the window and displays it in its current size and position. 激活窗口，保持当前的大小及位置不变。
• Pulling out the alarm switch activates alarm and pushing it deactivates it. 闹钟的开和关是通过拔出和按入闹铃开关实现的。

7 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

8 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

9 placebo   

n.安慰剂；宽慰话

参考例句：

• The placebo has been found to work with a lot of different cases.人们已发现安慰剂能在很多不同的病例中发挥作用。
• The placebo effect refers to all the observable behaviors caused by placebo.安慰剂效应是指由安慰剂所引起的可观察的行为。

10 caveats   

警告

参考例句：

• I would offer a caveat for those who want to join me in the dual calling. 为防止发生误解，我想对那些想要步我后尘的人提出警告。 来自辞典例句
• As I have written before, that's quite a caveat. 正如我以前所写，那确实是个警告。 来自互联网

11 enrolling   

v.招收( enrol的现在分词 )；吸收；入学；加入；[亦作enrol]( enroll的现在分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They lashed out at the university enrolling system. 他们猛烈抨击大学的招生制度。 来自辞典例句
• You're enrolling in a country club, Billy. 你是注册加入乡村俱乐部了，比利。 来自辞典例句