VOA标准英语2011--New Drugs Promise Higher Cure Rates for

New Drugs Promise Higher Cure Rates for Hepatitis C

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved two new drugs - boceprevir and telaprevir - to treat hepatitis C, a virus that can cause liver damage and cancer. The new drugs are expected to improve cure rates for some of the more than 170 million people worldwide affected¹ by this potentially fatal disease.
Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus. If blood is not screened for diseases, the virus can be transmitted through transfusions² or organ transplants. In the United States, the most common cause of infection is sharing drug-injection needles.
It can take years, or even decades, for the virus to cause enough liver damage to produce symptoms and about three-quarters of Americans with hepatitis C don't know they have it.
"People got their hepatitis C in the 60s and 70s, and early 80s, and now are having all these problems from it, 20 or 30 years later," says liver disease specialist Dr. Bruce Bacon of Saint Louis University, adding that about 20 percent of people exposed to hepatitis C recover from the virus on their own, without treatment.
"The flip³ side of that is about 80 percent of people - 80, 85 percent of people - do get chronic⁴ hepatitis. And of those patients, 20 to 30 percent of people develop cirrhosis, and of those, two to three percent of patients develop liver cancer."
There are six different strains, or genotypes, of hepatitis C. Saint Louis University researcher Dr. Adrian Di Bisceglie says that, in the U.S., about 70 percent of patients have genotype 1, a form of the virus that is also the most common in Latin America, Europe, and parts of Asia.
"And it turns out that genotype 1 is the most hard to treat," he says.
For the past decade, treatment for hepatitis C has meant a year-long regimen of two drugs: an immune-system booster called pegylated interferon and an antiviral medication known as ribavirin.
But often, Di Besceglie says, that two-drug treatment hasn't worked for patients with the genotype 1 virus. "In that genotype, only about 40 percent of patients get cured when they're treated with interferon and ribavirin."
In a clinical trial funded by the drug maker⁵ Vertex, Di Besceglie helped test how hard-to-treat genotype 1 patients responded when a new Vertex drug, telaprevir, was added to the current two-drug treatment.
"The cure rates or the rates of sustained virologic response go from the 40 percent number that I mentioned in patients with genotype 1, to 75 percent."
A clinical trial for a similar medication, boceprevir, was funded by Merck, the drug's developer.
Bacon, who led that study, says adding boceprevir to the standard two-drug treatment significantly improved cure rates, even for patients who had been treated before and failed to recover.
"In the treatment-experienced patients, those who hadn't responded or who had relapsed previously⁶, the numbers are more like 20 percent with the standard therapy being re-treated, versus⁷ about 60 to 65 percent cure rate with the addition of boceprevir."
Dr. Barbara McGovern treats patients with hepatitis C at the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Boston. She was on an independent panel of experts that reviewed data on both drugs for the FDA. She says the new drugs do have some side effects - boceprevir can cause anemia⁸, and telaprevir a severe rash - but she believes their benefits outweigh⁹ their risks.
"The difference between what you can do with dual¹⁰ therapy and triple therapy is like night and day," says McGovern. "We always have to measure risks and benefits, but the amount of patients who are cured - and that's a very special word in infectious diseases - is so much higher."
In the U.S., the current two-drug treatment costs about $20,000. Adding one of the new drugs will likely double or triple that.
Dr. Adrian Di Besceglie says it's worth it. "You save downstream by saving the costs of caring for patients with decompensated cirrhosis, liver cancer, liver transplantation, all of that. The last few months of life when you have liver failure is terribly, terribly expensive."
Di Besceglie, Bacon, and McGovern all say there are even better drugs in the pipeline¹¹, but those won't get federal approval for at least three-to-five years. Meanwhile, boceprevir and telaprevir are already on their way to U.S. pharmacies¹².

1 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

2 transfusions   

n.输血( transfusion的名词复数 )；输液；倾注；渗透

参考例句：

• Still, transfusions have apparently never spread the disease, even among hemophiliacs. 还有，输血很明显从未传播过这种病，即使在血友病人之间也是如此。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 口蹄疫疯牛病
• Blood transfusions are a special, limited example of tissue transplantation. 输血是一个特殊的、有限制的组织移植的例子。 来自辞典例句

3 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

4 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。

5 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

6 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

7 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

8 anemia   

n.贫血，贫血症

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。
• I was put on iron tablets for my anemia.我曾因贫血吃补铁药片。

9 outweigh   

vt.比...更重，...更重要

参考例句：

• The merits of your plan outweigh the defects.你制定的计划其优点胜过缺点。
• One's merits outweigh one's short-comings.功大于过。

10 dual   

adj.双的；二重的，二元的

参考例句：

• The people's Republic of China does not recognize dual nationality for any Chinese national.中华人民共和国不承认中国公民具有双重国籍。
• He has dual role as composer and conductor.他兼作曲家及指挥的双重身分。

11 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

12 pharmacies   

药店

参考例句：

• Still, 32 percent of the pharmacies filled the prescriptions. 但仍然有32%的药剂师配发了这两张药方。 来自互联网
• Chinese herbal pharmacies, and traditional massage therapists in the Vancouver telephone book. 中药店，和传统的按摩师在温哥华的电话簿里。 来自互联网