[2019·郑州市高三第三次质量预测]For as long as we've known about it, humans have searched for a cure for cancer. Across the world, countless amounts of time and money have been spent on researching a way to stop this terrible disease. But now, it seems like the answer could have been inside our own bodies the whole time.
Recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US, a government agency that's responsible for health care, approved a new form of gene therapy that could mean the end of a certain type of cancer.
The therapy allows scientists to “train” the immune(有免疫力的) cells of sick patients to fight leukemia — a form of blood cancer that mostly affects young people.
The exciting new treatment works by removing healthy immune cells from the patient, known as Tcells, which are then changed to be able to “hunt down” cancer cells.
The cells are then put back into the patient before they begin to get rid of the patient's leukemia over time, similar to how the body fights off other illnesses.
“This is truly an exciting new day for cancer patients，” Louis J. DeGennaro, president of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, said in a news release.
Up until now, a long and painful marrow transplant(骨髓移植) was the only option for many leukemia patients.
In this procedure, healthy blood cells are taken from a donor and placed into the sick patient, who also has to go through chemotherapy (化疗) to allow their body to adjust to the new cells.
But with a recovery rate of around 83% — according to a news release published by the FDA — it's hoped that the days of painful trips to the hospital, or even death, are over for leukemia sufferers.
“We're entering a new frontier in medical innovation with the ability to reprogram a patient's own cells to attack a deadly cancer，” FDA representative Scott Gottlieb said in the release. “New technologies such as gene and cell therapies hold the potential to transform medicine and our ability to treat and even cure many incurable illnesses.”
1．What is the author's main purpose in writing the passage?
A．To compare different ways of curing leukemia.
B．To report on a breakthrough in cancer treatment.
C．To explore the potential of gene and cell therapies.
D．To show scientists' efforts in search of a cure for cancer.
2．How does the new treatment for leukemia work?
A．By using changed Tcells to destroy cancer cells.
B．By replacing sick blood cells with healthy ones.
C．By removing sick blood cells during a marrow transplant.
D．By using chemotherapy to improve the patient's immune system.
3．What can be inferred about the new therapy for leukemia sufferers?
A．It can save them many more trips to the hospital.
B．It can improve their ability to fight off all kinds of cancer.
C．It can give them a better chance of survival and recovery.
D．It can reduce their pain in the process of the marrow transplant.
4．What is Scott Gottlieb's attitude toward gene and cell therapies?
A．Doubtful. B．Optimistic.
C．Worried. D．Casual.
