Proton Therapy
質(zhì)子療法也叫質(zhì)子刀,是放射治療的一種,比普通的放射療法更有針對(duì)性。質(zhì)子作為帶正電荷的粒子,以極高的速度進(jìn)入人體,由于其速度快,在體內(nèi)與正常組織或細(xì)胞發(fā)生作用的機(jī)會(huì)極低,當(dāng)?shù)竭_(dá)癌細(xì)胞的特定部位時(shí),速度突然降低并停止,釋放最大能量,發(fā)生Bragg峰(博拉格峰),將癌細(xì)胞殺死,同時(shí)有效地保護(hù)正常組織。由于質(zhì)子治療具有穿透性能強(qiáng)、劑量分布好、局部劑量高、旁散射少、半影小等特征,尤其對(duì)于治療有重要組織器官包繞的腫瘤,顯現(xiàn)出較大的優(yōu)越性。質(zhì)子治療的適應(yīng)癥比擬廣泛,對(duì)于腦部良惡性腫瘤、脊髓腫瘤、腦血管疾病、頭頸部腫瘤、眼部病變、胸腹部腫瘤、兒科腫瘤以及其它疾病等均有較好的療效。國(guó)外臨床治療數(shù)據(jù)標(biāo)明,質(zhì)子治療腫瘤有效率達(dá)到95%以上,五年存活率高達(dá)80%,被高能物理界和醫(yī)學(xué)界評(píng)估為療效最好、副作用最少的治療方法。
Doctors have developed a promising new procedure that could (1)revolutionize the way we fight cancer. Learn about proton therapy on this Moment of Science.
If you or someone you know has had cancer, then you know how frightening and painful treatment can be. But during the past few decades doctors have developed a promising new procedure called proton therapy that could revolutionize the way we fight cancer.
Proton therapy is basically a new kind of radiation treatment. Until recently, all radiation therapy used X-Rays. X-Rays are good at destroying cancer cells, but the problem is that when they pass through the body, they attack not only cancer cells but also surrounding healthy cells. So doctors have been forced to use radiation doses low enough to minimize damage to non-cancerous cells.
Proton therapy is a more accurate way of attacking cancer with radiation. Unlike X-Rays, which go through a patient and out the other side, protons penetrate only to the desired point and then stop. So cells deeper in the body than where the tumor is are not affected.
Protons also release most of their destructive energy just before they stop, so healthy cells in front of the tumor get less radiation than the cancer cells do. Proton therapy’s accuracy means that doctors can train high doses of proton radiation on (2)tumors without worrying about causing (3)collateral damage.
Proton radiation is not a miracle cure–in fact, it’s limited to treating (4)localized cancers that have not spread throughout the body. Still, it’s an important new tool for battling a deadly disease, especially for tumors deep inside the head or neck, where doing surgery would be too risky.
譯文:
如果你或你認(rèn)識(shí)的人得了癌癥,你就會(huì)知道治療的過(guò)程是何其的可怕和痛苦。但是在過(guò)去的幾十年里醫(yī)生們已經(jīng)研發(fā)出一種新的有前景的治療過(guò)程,叫做質(zhì)子治療。質(zhì)子治療可以徹底改變我們對(duì)抗癌癥的方法。
質(zhì)子治療從根本上說(shuō)是放射療法的一種。直到最近,所有的放射療法都是采用的X射線。X射線能夠摧毀癌細(xì)胞,但問(wèn)題是當(dāng)穿過(guò)身體時(shí),它們不僅攻擊癌細(xì)胞,也同樣會(huì)攻擊周?chē)慕】导?xì)胞。所以醫(yī)生們一直被迫使用較低的輻射劑量來(lái)減少對(duì)非癌細(xì)胞的傷害。
質(zhì)子療法是用輻射治療癌癥一種更為準(zhǔn)確的方法。與X射線不同的是,穿過(guò)病人身體并從身體的另一邊出去時(shí),質(zhì)子只會(huì)穿透所需要的點(diǎn),然后就停止。因此,在人體內(nèi)比腫瘤位置更深的細(xì)胞不會(huì)受到影響。
質(zhì)子一停下來(lái)就會(huì)釋放大部分的破壞性能量,所以腫瘤外部的健康細(xì)胞比癌細(xì)胞受到的輻射少。質(zhì)子治療的精確性意味著醫(yī)生們可以在腫瘤的治療上使用高劑量的質(zhì)子輻射,并且不用擔(dān)心會(huì)引起附帶損害。
質(zhì)子放射療法其實(shí)并不是一個(gè)治療的奇跡。它僅局限于治療沒(méi)有擴(kuò)散到全身各處的局部腫瘤。不過(guò)它仍然是一個(gè)對(duì)抗致命疾病的重要工具,特別是對(duì)于頭部和頸部深處的腫瘤,在那里做手術(shù)太冒險(xiǎn)了。
Notes:
(1)revolutionize [,rev?'lju:??naiz] vt.發(fā)動(dòng)革命;徹底改革;宣傳革命 vi.革命化;從事革命
1.They wanted to revolutionize the whole world.
他們要在全世界發(fā)動(dòng)革命。
2.But the Internet has just as much potential to revolutionize education.
不過(guò),互聯(lián)網(wǎng)同樣具有實(shí)現(xiàn)教育革命的潛力。
(2)tumors n.腫瘤(tumor的復(fù)數(shù))
(3)collateral damage [法]附帶損害
The collateral damage is still considerable.
間接的損失仍然相當(dāng)大。
(4)localized['l?uk?laizd] adj.局部的;地區(qū)的;小范圍的 v.定位(localize的過(guò)去分詞)
Their interest localized on the development of this new drug.
他們的興趣集中在這種新藥的研制開(kāi)發(fā)上。