輝瑞計劃綜合使用三種免疫療法抗癌
Pfizer plans to test a combination of three novel cancer drugs in humans next year, as the US drugmaker seeks to make up lost ground in the race to develop a new generation of “immunotherapy” medicines that turn the body into a weapon against tumours.
輝瑞(Pfizer)計劃明年在人體上測試綜合使用三種新型抗癌藥的療效。這家美國藥企正尋求在研發新一代“免疫療法”藥物的競賽中收復失地，這類藥物能把人體變成對抗腫瘤的武器。
The “triplet” trial will be one of the first to test three immunotherapies at the same time, and will involve giving a small group of patients a cocktail of drugs to determine whether the combination is safe, and whether it can shrink tumours in those suffering from solid cancers.
這一“三藥合一”試驗，將成爲首批同時考察三種免疫療法藥物效果的試驗之一，幾名患者將服下三種藥物的混合物，以判定這一混合物是否安全、以及是否能讓那些患有實體癌的人體內的腫瘤變小。
Pfizer has fallen behind rivals such as Bristol-Myers Squibb and US Merck, which have already launched the first wave of immunotherapies, known as checkpoint inhibitors. These drugs remove brakes in the body’s immune system that stop it from attacking tumours, and have shown they can extend the lives of patients with very poor prognoses.
輝瑞已落在百時美施貴寶(BMS)和美國默克(Merck)等競爭對手後面，後兩者已推出第一波免疫療法藥物——檢查點抑制劑(checkpoint inhibitor)。這些藥物會移除人體免疫系統中的“制動器”（“制動器”會阻止免疫系統攻擊腫瘤），並已證明能夠延長預後很差的患者的生命。
However, the existing therapies only work in about a third of patients, prompting rival drugmakers to find ways of augmenting their effect
然而，現有療法僅對約三分之一患者有效，這促使其他藥企想方設法增強這些療法的效果。
Pfizer believes it can gain an edge by developing combination treatments, including a therapy that adds Avelumab, a checkpoint inhibitor it is developing with Merck of Germany, to two further drugs — Utomilumab and another code-named OX40.
輝瑞認爲，自己可以通過研發綜合療法——包括一種將其與德國默克(Merck)聯合研發的檢查點抑制劑Avelumab同另兩種藥物Utomilumab和OX40混合到一起的療法——來獲得優勢。
While Avelumab is designed to remove the brakes in the immune system, Pfizer thinks the other two drugs will speed up the body’s response, likening their effects to the “gas” or “oil” needed to run a well-functioning engine.
Avelumab旨在移除免疫系統中的“制動器”，輝瑞認爲，另兩種藥物將加快人體的反應，它把它們的效果比作讓一個功能良好的引擎運轉所需的“氣”或“油”。
The arrival of immunotherapies has been heralded as the most important development in cancer treatment in generations. Whereas new cancer drugs used to be deemed successful if they could stall tumour growth for a number of weeks, these newer medicines can keep patients alive for many months and, in some cases, years.
一些人宣稱，免疫療法的出現是幾代人以來癌症治療領域的最重要進展。過去，新的抗癌藥物如果能讓腫瘤生長停止幾周，就會被認爲是成功的，而這些更新的藥物能讓患者多活許多個月，在某些情況下可以多活好幾年。
