Name: 科技不斷進步，但為何我們還沒有辦法治癒癌症？ (Why Haven't We Cured Cancer?)
Uploaded: 2024-11-16T21:01:10.000Z
Duration: 3 min 52 s

轉承詞

20 years ago, thanks to a giant breakthrough, we thought we were about to cure cancer.

20 年前，由於一項重大突破，我們以為我們即將治癒癌症。

Now, though, we have a new idea that flips the previous one on its head. Hi, I'm David, and this is MinuteEarth.

但現在，我們有了一個新想法，它顛覆了之前的想法。大家好，我是大衛，這裡是 MinuteEarth。

For a long time, doctors have known that there are lots of different genetic mutations that can cause cancer.

很久以來，醫生們就知道有很多不同的基因突變會導致癌症。

Even the same kind of cancer, say breast cancer, can be caused by very different mutations.

即使是同一種癌症，比如乳腺癌，也可能是由截然不同的突變引起的。

That means that a treatment that works well for one person with breast cancer doesn't necessarily work well for another person with breast cancer. This is exciting when, a few decades ago, genetic testing advanced enough that scientists could sample a patient's cancer, find the mutation that caused it, and then, once they figured out a treatment that worked for that one patient, they could essentially copy and paste that treatment for everyone else with the same cancer-causing mutation.

這意味著，對一個乳腺癌患者有效的治療方法不一定對另一個乳腺癌患者有效。幾十年前，基因檢測技術發展到足夠先進的程度，科學家們可以對患者的癌症進行採樣，找到導致癌症的突變基因，然後，一旦他們找到了對該患者有效的治療方法，他們基本上就可以將這種治療方法複製粘貼到其他具有相同致癌突變基因的人身上。

Which sounds great, and the initial results were super promising. For example, researchers copy-pasted a treatment that worked for one breast cancer patient with a particular mutation, and found that 80% of -- they pinpointed more mutations and developed more drugs, we'd soon get to the point where, whenever anyone got cancer, we could destroy it by copying and pasting a mutation-specific treatment.

這聽起來很不錯，而且初步結果也很有希望。例如，研究人員複製粘貼了一種對具有特定突變的乳腺癌患者有效的治療方法，結果發現80%的乳腺癌患者--他們精確定位了更多的突變並開發了更多的藥物--我們很快就會達到這樣的地步：只要有人得了癌症，我們就可以通過複製粘貼針對突變的治療方法來消滅它。

But that obviously hasn't happened. First, there are a lot of different cancer drugs and a lot of different cancer-causing mutations out there, and scientists have only stumbled on a few specific combinations that actually work.

但這顯然沒有發生。首先，目前有許多不同的抗癌藥物和許多不同的致癌突變，科學家們只偶然發現了幾種真正有效的特定組合。

Second, even when scientists do find a combination that works in one patient, and they do the whole copy-paste thing, other than in a few select cases, the treatment doesn't work all that well in other people with the same mutation. It turns out that how most cancers respond to treatment isn't just a matter of the mutation that caused them, but also all sorts of other complicated stuff that can vary from person to person.

其次，即使科學家們找到了對某個病人有效的治療組合，並進行了複製粘貼，但除了少數幾個特定病例外，這種治療方法對其他具有相同突變的人並不十分有效。事實證明，大多數癌症對治療的反應並不僅僅取決於導致癌症的基因突變，還有其他各種因人而異的複雜因素。

As a result, copy and pasted treatments, which scientists once thought might basically cure cancer, barely work better than traditional treatments like radiation and old-school chemo. But instead of giving up on the copy-paste idea, today scientists are tweaking it.

是以，科學家們曾認為複製和粘貼療法基本上可以治癒癌症，但與傳統療法（如放療和老式化療）相比，複製和粘貼療法幾乎沒有什麼效果。但如今，科學家們並沒有放棄複製粘貼的想法，而是對其進行了調整。

Instead of copying and pasting treatments, some scientists are copying and pasting the cancer itself.

一些科學家不是複製和粘貼治療方法，而是複製和粘貼癌症本身。

By sampling, growing, and then divvying up a patient's cancer into a ton of different testing wells, doctors can pit hundreds of different drugs against it at the same time. They don't have to know exactly what mutation caused the cancer or what other complicated stuff is going on.

通過取樣、培養，然後將病人的癌症抽成大量不同的測試井，醫生可以同時使用數百種不同的藥物進行治療。他們不必確切知道癌症是由哪種突變引起的，也不必知道發生了什麼其他複雜的事情。

They can just see which drug works best for that particular cancer, and then give that drug to the patient.

他們只需看看哪種藥物對特定癌症最有效，然後就可以給病人用藥。

Scientists have only done a few clinical trials of this new copying and pasting cancer approach, but it seems to be way more effective than copying and pasting treatments. Almost 40% of patients have gotten better results than they would have with radiation and old-school chemo alone.

科學家們只對這種新的複製和粘貼癌症療法進行了幾次臨床試驗，但它似乎比複製和粘貼療法更有效。近 40% 的患者獲得了比單純放射治療和老式化療更好的療效。

It may turn out that this new breakthrough is underwhelming, too.

結果可能是，這一新的突破也無法令人滿意。

We're still a very long way from actually curing cancer.

我們離真正治癒癌症還有很長的路要走。

But ironically, it may turn out that one of the best ways to fight cancer is to make more of it.

但諷刺的是，抗癌的最佳方法之一可能是製造更多的癌症。

Perhaps a CTRL-C and CTRL-V. We need to do a lot more research to show the effectiveness of this approach.

也許是 CTRL-C 和 CTRL-V。我們需要做更多的研究來證明這種方法的有效性。

This is why we were super excited to make this video in partnership with Florida International University, which has been a leader in this field, known as Functional Precision Medicine. Dr. Diana Assam, along with postdoc Dr. Arlette Aconda de la Rocha, and the rest of the team at the Robert Stemple College of Public Health and Social Work at FIU, are pioneering the next phase of clinical trials in both pediatric and adult cancer patients.

是以，我們非常高興能與佛羅里達國際大學（FIU）合作製作這段視頻，該大學一直是這一領域（即功能精準醫學）的領軍者。戴安娜-阿薩姆（Diana Assam）博士與博士後阿萊特-阿孔達-德拉羅查（Arlette Aconda de la Rocha）博士以及佛羅里達國際大學羅伯特-斯坦普爾公共衛生與社會工作學院（Robert Stemple College of Public Health and Social Work at FIU）的其他團隊成員正在開拓下一階段的兒科和成人癌症患者臨床試驗。

After taking tumor samples and growing them in the lab, they expose them to more than 120 different drugs to find the right fit.

採集腫瘤樣本並在實驗室中培養後，他們將其暴露於 120 多種不同的藥物中，以找到合適的藥物。

This process takes less than a week. Their initial study results are incredibly promising.

整個過程不到一週。他們的初步研究結果令人難以置信。

Eighty-three percent of kids who received treatments guided by this approach showed improvement.

在接受這種方法指導的治療後，83%的孩子病情有所好轉。

 To learn more about FIU's clinical trials, visit www.fiu.edu.

欲瞭解有關 FIU 臨床試驗的更多資訊，請訪問 www.fiu.edu。