VOA标准英语2011--'Serial Killer' Cells Demolish Leukemia

'Serial¹ Killer²' Cells Demolish³ Leukemia Tumors

U.S. researchers say they've been able to modify a patient's immune system T cells, turning them into “serial killer” cells which zero in on cancer and obliterate⁵ it.
It’s being called a breakthrough in the treatment of a form of leukemia, a hard to treat and usually fatal blood cancer.
Chronic⁶ lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is marked by a slow increase in immune system white blood cells, called B lymphocytes. These B cells, as they're known, are manufactured by the bone marrow⁷, the spongy tissue inside bones that also manufactures red blood cells.
Eventually, the healthy blood cells are crowded out by the proliferating⁸ B cells, the patient experiences bone marrow failure, and - without a bone marrow transplant - dies.
A transplant of healthy bone marrow from a donor⁹ has been the only treatment and potential cure for chronic lymphocytic leukemia. But it is very difficult to find a match and many people with CLL die while waiting. Even with a transplant, experts say only about half of CLL patients survive the procedure.
Three CLL patients who had run out of treatment options were selected for an experiment at the University of Pennsylvania. Researchers genetically¹⁰ engineered another one of their immune system cells, the T lymphocytes, to attack cancerous B cells.
Carl June, a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the school’s Abramson Cancer Center, was the study’s lead author.
“The actual trial exceeded our wildest outcome and imagination actually," says Carl June, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, who was the study’s lead author, "because what we found is all three patients have had a remarkable¹¹ anti-tumor⁴ response and that literally¹² pounds of leukemia have been eradicated¹³ in all three patients.”
Two of the three CLL patients had a complete remission of their disease and there was a significant improvement in the third.
The T cells were genetically modified using a harmless virus, which carried an anti-body called a chimeric¹⁴ antigen receptor (CAR). Antibodies are immune system proteins which are produced in response to an infection.
The CAR was engineered to bind¹⁵ to another protein called CD19 that’s present on the surface of normal B lymphocytes and all CLL tumor cells.
Scientists say the modified T cells, injected into the patients following standard chemotherapy, homed in on the cancerous B cells inside the bone marrow, each T lymphocyte killing¹⁶ thousands of tumor cells.
Researcher Michael Kalos says the team also engineered a signaling molecule¹⁷ that binds¹⁸ to CD19, triggering the continued production of thousands of T cells. The genetically engineered cells act as sentries¹⁹ against cancerous B cells should they return.
“We saw a substantial number of cells remaining circulating and in the marrow of patients very, very late after infusion²⁰, nine to 12 months, entirely²¹ unprecedented²² in the field," says Kalos. "And finally we saw that those cells, not only did they remain there, but they were able to be triggered, recognize and kill cancer cells when they encountered them again.”
In a report describing the so-called “serial killer” T cell therapy in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers say it completely obliterated²³ cancer cells in a 64-year-old man with CLL three weeks after treatment, and three to six months later, researchers could detect no sign of disease.
The patient’s marrow began manufacturing healthy B cells to replace the ones that were destroyed as "collateral²⁴ damage" by the therapy. Cells that did not express CD19 were unaffected.

1 serial   

n.连本影片，连本电视节目；adj.连续的

参考例句：

• A new serial is starting on television tonight.今晚电视开播一部新的电视连续剧。
• Can you account for the serial failures in our experiment?你能解释我们实验屡屡失败的原因吗？

2 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

3 demolish   

v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等)

参考例句：

• They're going to demolish that old building.他们将拆毁那座旧建筑物。
• He was helping to demolish an underground garage when part of the roof collapsed.他当时正在帮忙拆除一个地下汽车库，屋顶的一部份突然倒塌。

4 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。

5 obliterate   

v.擦去，涂抹，去掉...痕迹，消失，除去

参考例句：

• Whole villages were obliterated by fire.整座整座的村庄都被大火所吞噬。
• There was time enough to obliterate memories of how things once were for him.时间足以抹去他对过去经历的记忆。

6 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。

7 marrow   

n.骨髓；精华；活力

参考例句：

• It was so cold that he felt frozen to the marrow. 天气太冷了，他感到寒冷刺骨。
• He was tired to the marrow of his bones.他真是累得筋疲力尽了。

8 proliferating   

激增( proliferate的现在分词 )； （迅速）繁殖； 增生； 扩散

参考例句：

• Computerized data bases are proliferating fast. 计算机化的数据库正在激增。
• Crown galls are cancerous growths composed of disorganized and proliferating plant cells. 冠瘿是无组织的正在不断增殖的植物细胞所组成的癌状物。

9 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

10 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

11 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

12 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

13 eradicated   

画着根的

参考例句：

• Polio has been virtually eradicated in Brazil. 在巴西脊髓灰质炎实际上已经根除。
• The disease has been eradicated from the world. 这种疾病已在全世界得到根除。

14 chimeric   

adj.妄想的，荒诞不经的

参考例句：

• High-intensity-type chimeric hedging may be gas-tight syringe safety connections, never loose. 高强度嵌合式套头，可与针筒安全气密式连接，绝不松脱。 来自互联网
• His utopia is not as chimeric commonwealth but a practical improvement on what already exists. 他的乌托邦不是空想的联邦，而是对那些已经存在的联邦实际改进。 来自互联网

15 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

16 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

17 molecule   

n.分子，克分子

参考例句：

• A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈̬f婘̬ 妈̬成的。
• This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。

18 binds   

v.约束( bind的第三人称单数 )；装订；捆绑；（用长布条）缠绕

参考例句：

• Frost binds the soil. 霜使土壤凝结。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Stones and cement binds strongly. 石头和水泥凝固得很牢。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 sentries   

哨兵，步兵( sentry的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We posted sentries at the gates of the camp. 我们在军营的大门口布置哨兵。
• We were guarded by sentries against surprise attack. 我们由哨兵守卫，以免遭受突袭。

20 infusion   

n.灌输

参考例句：

• Old families need an infusion of new blood from time to time.古老的家族需要不时地注入新鲜血液。
• Careful observation of the infusion site is necessary.必须仔细观察输液部位。

21 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

22 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

23 obliterated   

v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭

参考例句：

• The building was completely obliterated by the bomb. 炸弹把那座建筑物彻底摧毁了。
• He began to drink, drank himself to intoxication, till he slept obliterated. 他一直喝，喝到他快要迷糊地睡着了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。