(건강) 폐암 테라피는 '이정표'

출처: http://www.bbc.com/news/health-32936877

Lung cancer therapy is 'milestone' 폐암 테라피는 '이정표'

By James GallagherHealth editor, BBC News website

30 May 2015

A lung cancer therapy can more than double life expectancy in some patients, a "milestone" trial shows. 폐암 테라피는 일부 환자들에게 기대수명을 두 배로 늘려줄 수 있다고, "역사적인" 시험은 보여준다.

Nivolumab stops cancerous cells hiding from the body's own defences, leaving the cancer vulnerable to attack. 니보루맙은 암세포들이 공격에 취약하도록 만들어버림으로써 우리 몸의 방어체계 속에 숨지 못하게 한다.

The results from 582 people, presented at the American Society of Clinical oncology, were described as "giving real hope to patients". 미국임상종양학회에 보고된, 582명을 대상으로 한 실험에서 얻어진 결과는 "환자들에게 희망을 주는 것"이라 볼 수 있었다.

Lung cancer is the most deadly type of cancer, killing nearly 1.6 million people every year. 매년 160만명을 죽게 만드는 폐암은 가장 치명적인 암의 형태이다.

It is hard to treat as it is often diagnosed late and many people with smoking-related diseases are unsuitable for surgery. 늦게 진단 받은 경우는 어려우며, 흡연과 관련된 질병을 앓는 사람들은 수술에 적합하지 않다.

Natural defences 자연적 방어

Your immune system is trained to fight infection, but it also attacks parts of the body if they malfunction - such as in cancers. 당신의 면역체계는 감염과 싸우도록 되어 있으나, 이 면역체계는 몸의 일부를 공격하기도 한다. 암에 걸린 경우처럼 제기능을 못할 경우 말이다.

However, tumours have a few tricks up their sleeve in order to survive. 그러나 종양들은 살아남기 위해 최후의 수단을 갖고 있다.

They can produce a protein called PD-L1 which switches off any part of the immune system that tries to attack them. 종양들은 PD-L1이란 이름의 단백질을 만든다. 이 단백질은 종양들을 공격하는 면역체계의 일부가 작동하는 걸 멈추게 한다.

Nivolumab is one of a suite of drugs called "checkpoint inhibitors" being developed by pharmaceutical companies. 니보룸압은 제약회사들이 개발하고 있는 "검문소 거주자"란 이름의 한 세트의 약들 가운데 하나이다.

They stop cancers turning off the immune system so the body can keep on attacking the tumour. 이 약들은 암들이 면역체계의 작동을 멈추게 하는 방해하여 우리 몸이 종양을 계속해서 공격하게 할 수 있다.

The trial, conducted in Europe and the US, was on patients who had advanced lung cancer and who had already tried other treatments.

People on standard therapy lived for another 9.4 months at this stage, but those taking Nivolumab lived for 12.2 months on average.

However, some patients did spectacularly well. Those whose tumours were producing high levels of PD-L1 lived for another 19.4 months.

'Milestone' '하나의 이정표'

The data was presented by the pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Lead researcher Dr Luis Paz-Ares, from the Hospital Universitario Doce de Octubre in Madrid, Spain, said: "[The results] mark a milestone in the development of new treatment options for lung cancer."

"Nivolumab is the first PD-1 inhibitor to show a significant improvement in overall survival in a phase III trial in non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer."

Many other companies are assessing similar drugs.

Dr Martin Forster, from the University College London Cancer Institute, is trialling some of them.

He told the BBC News website: "It's really exciting, I think these drugs will be a paradigm shift in how we treat lung cancer."

He said that after chemotherapy failed, current survival rates were "dire".

"But in those that respond [to immunotherapy] there seems to be very prolonged disease control, I think it's a huge shift in lung cancer and for patients it's going to be dramatic," he said.

'Real hope' '진짜 희망'

Cancer Research UK said harnessing the immune system would be an "essential part" of cancer treatment.

Dr Alan Worsley, the charity's senior science information officer, told the BBC: "This trial shows that blocking lung cancer's ability to hide from immune cells may be better than current chemotherapy treatments."

"Advances like these are giving real hope for lung cancer patients, who have until now had very few options."

It is hoped these drugs will work in a range of cancers. Nivolumab has alreadybeen approved in the US for melanoma.

But there are still big questions to be answered.

The long-term consequences of modifying the immune system are still unknown and the best way of figuring out who will respond to therapy is uncertain.

And these therapies are also likely to be very expensive and so will pose a challenge for health services trying to offer them.