使用寨卡病毒治療惡性腦瘤。聽吧

Zika virus used to treat aggressive brain cancer

使用寨卡病毒治療惡性腦瘤

A harmful virus that can cause devastating brain damage in babies could offer up a surprising new treatment for adult brain cancer, according to US scientists.

據美國科學家稱, 一種能導致嬰兒毀滅性腦損傷的、有害的病毒，或為成年人腦癌提供一種驚奇的新療法。

Until now, Zika has been seen only as a global health threat - not a remedy.

直到現在, 寨卡一直被視為全球健康的威脅，並非治療其他病症的良藥。

But latest research shows the virus can selectively infect and kill hard-to-treat cancerous cells in adult brains.

但最新的研究表明，這種病毒可以有選擇性的感染、並殺死成人大腦中的難以治癒的癌細胞。

Zika injections shrank aggressive tumours in fully grown mice, yet left other brain cells unscathed.

注射到成年鼠體內的寨卡病毒，縮小了本來發展迅猛的腫瘤，但其他腦細胞卻毫髮無損。

Human trials are still a way off, but experts believe Zika virus could potentially be injected into the brain at the same time as surgery to remove life-threatening tumours, the Journal of Experimental Medicine reports.

人體試驗雖然還為時過早，但據《實驗醫學雜誌》報告，專家們認為，寨卡病毒可以在大腦手術的同時注入到大腦內，雙管齊下，來消除危及生命的腫瘤。

The Zika treatment appears to work on human cell samples in the lab.

在實驗室中，寨卡治療似乎對人體細胞樣本也有作用。

There are many different types of brain cancer. Glioblastomas are the most common in adults and one of the trickiest to treat.

腦癌有許多類型。神經膠質母細胞瘤是在成人當中最常見的，而且是在治療上是最棘手的種類之一。

They are fast growing and diffuse, meaning they spread through the brain, making it difficult to see where the tumour ends and the healthy tissue begins.

它們生長快速且擴散性強，這意味著它們通過大腦傳播，使得腫瘤與健康組織的接壤處很難分開。

Radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgery may not be enough to removethese invasive cancers.放療、化療和手術都可能不足以消除這些侵襲性癌症。

But the latest research, in living mice and donated human brain tissue samples, shows Zika therapy can kill cells that tend to be resistant to current treatments.

但最新的在活鼠和捐贈人類腦組織樣本上的研究顯示， 寨卡療法可以殺死那些對目前的治療方式有抗性的細胞。

It is thought that these glioblastoma stem cells continue to grow and divide, producing new tumour cells even after aggressive medical treatment.

據認為,這些神經膠質母細胞瘤幹細胞，即使在積極的醫療治療後，還會繼續增長和分裂，生成新的腫瘤細胞,

Different, healthy stem cells are found in abundance in baby brains, which probably explains why regular Zika can be so damaging to infants, say the researchers.

研究人員說,在嬰兒大腦中有豐富的、健康的幹細胞，這可能解釋了為什麼正常的寨卡會對嬰兒造成如此大的傷害。

Adult brains, however, have very few stem cells. This means Zika treatment should destroy only the cancer-causing brain stem cells without causing much collateral damage.

然而,成年大腦的幹細胞很少。這意味著寨卡治療只會破壞致癌的腦幹細胞，而不會造成過多的附帶損害。

As an extra safety precaution, the team, from Washington University School of Medicine and the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, have already begun modifying the virus to make it more tame than regular Zika.

作為一個額外的安全措施，來自華盛頓大學醫學院和加州大學聖地亞哥分校醫學院的研究小組已經開始修改病毒，使其比普通的寨卡更好控制。

Researcher Dr Michael Diamond said: "Once we add a few more changes, I think it s going to be impossible for the virus to overcome them and cause disease.

研究人員Michael Diamond博士說:「一旦我們增加更多的變化，我認為病毒就不可能打敗它們，從而再引發疾病。」

"It looks like there s a silver lining to Zika. This virus that targets cells that are very important for brain growth in babies, we could use that now to target growing tumours.」

「這種專門對於嬰兒重要的大腦發育細胞有損害的病毒，現在卻可以為我們利用，抑止生長中的腫瘤。對於寨卡這樣百害而無一利的病毒來說，不能不說是有了一線希望。」

He hopes to begin human trials within 18 months.

他希望在18月內開始人體試驗。

Using viruses to fight cancer is not a new idea, but using Zika as the weapon of choice is.

使用病毒對抗癌症雖不是什麼新鮮的想法，但使用寨卡作為武器還是第一次。

UK scientists at the University of Cambridge are beginning similar trials with Zika.

劍橋大學的英國科學家開始用寨卡進行類似的試驗。

Dr Catherine Pickworth, from Cancer Research UK, said: "This promising research shows that a modified version of the Zika virus can attack brain tumour cells in the lab.

來自英國癌症研究（院）的Catherine Pickworth博士說:「這項有希望的研究表明，寨卡病毒的改良版可以在實驗室中攻擊腦腫瘤細胞。

"This could one day lead to new treatments for this particularly hard to treat type of cancer.」

「有一天，這或許會帶領我們找到新的治療方法，特別是對於這種很難治療的癌症類型。

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