????本文為與《時(shí)代》雜志的合作內(nèi)容,。原文最初發(fā)表于Time.com。

????一項(xiàng)最新研究顯示,，協(xié)同使用兩種抗癌藥物,，可以使將近60%的晚期黑色素瘤患者的腫瘤縮小。

????這項(xiàng)試驗(yàn)招募了全球137個(gè)地點(diǎn)的945名病人,。BBC引述幾位英國(guó)醫(yī)生本周在美國(guó)臨床腫瘤學(xué)會(huì)年度大會(huì)上的發(fā)言稱,，當(dāng)聯(lián)合使用ipilimumab和nivolumab兩種藥物治療黑色素瘤時(shí)，超過(guò)半數(shù)患者的腫瘤停止惡化了近一年之久,。該研究也被刊登在了《新英格蘭醫(yī)學(xué)期刊》上,。

????這兩款藥物的設(shè)計(jì)宗旨都是調(diào)動(dòng)人體自然防御功能，以對(duì)抗癌癥,。人體的免疫系統(tǒng)本身就是一款對(duì)抗疾病的良藥,，但有些先天的抑制因素會(huì)像剎車(chē)一樣，阻止身體攻擊自己的組織,。癌細(xì)胞正是利用這個(gè)漏洞無(wú)法抑制地持續(xù)增長(zhǎng)。這兩款藥物的作用就是關(guān)掉人體的這些“剎車(chē)”,。

????這兩款藥物都是由百時(shí)美施貴寶公司研發(fā)的,。據(jù)BBC報(bào)道，另一款名叫Pembrolizumab的新藥也有類似的效果,。

????研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn),，58%的患者在同時(shí)使用了這兩款藥物之后，他們的腫瘤在一年內(nèi)至少縮小了三分之一,。但目前還不清楚患者接受了這兩款藥物治療后的生存時(shí)間是多久,。

????皮膚癌是人類最常見(jiàn)的癌癥之一。美國(guó)癌癥協(xié)會(huì)表示,，雖然黑色素瘤的發(fā)病率只占所有皮膚癌患者的2%,，但它卻是一種極其兇險(xiǎn)的疾病，多數(shù)皮膚癌患者的死亡都是由它造成的,。據(jù)美國(guó)癌癥協(xié)會(huì)預(yù)測(cè),，2015年美國(guó)將有近1萬(wàn)人死于皮膚癌。

????不過(guò),，在美國(guó)臨床腫瘤學(xué)會(huì)年度大會(huì)上,，這個(gè)利好消息被另一個(gè)高調(diào)的演講遮掩住了,。該演講痛批癌癥治療的天價(jià)，當(dāng)然它并非只針對(duì)百時(shí)美施貴寶公司的這兩款抗黑色素瘤藥物,，而是針對(duì)整個(gè)癌癥治療業(yè),。

????據(jù)《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》報(bào)道，斯隆凱特琳癌癥研究中心（Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center）消化腫瘤科負(fù)責(zé)人萊納德?索爾茨在大會(huì)上發(fā)表演講稱,，如果用這種“雙藥聯(lián)合”的方法治療病人,，那么每人每年的醫(yī)療成本將達(dá)到29.5萬(wàn)美元左右，他表示這個(gè)價(jià)格是病人難以承受的,。

????索爾茨還指出,，如果美國(guó)所有的轉(zhuǎn)移性腫瘤患者每年都花29.5萬(wàn)美元看病，那么僅僅一年的治療費(fèi)用總額就將高達(dá)1740億美元,。

????“癌癥藥物令人難以承受的高價(jià)是一個(gè)大問(wèn)題,，也是我們的問(wèn)題?！彼鳡柎谋硎?。

????索爾茨醫(yī)生還呼吁改變美國(guó)藥品的定價(jià)方式。他表示,，聯(lián)邦醫(yī)療保險(xiǎn)系統(tǒng)應(yīng)該直接與制藥公司進(jìn)行談判,，不過(guò)法律現(xiàn)在還不允許這樣做。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：樸成奎

????審校：任文科

????This article is published in partnership with Time.com. The original version can be found here.

????Two cancer drugs, when taken in concert, can shrink tumors in nearly 60% of people with advanced-stage melanoma, according to a new study.

????The trial, which enrolled 945 patients at 137 sites worldwide, found that treating the cancer with medications ipilimumab and nivolumab stopped its advance for almost a year in more than half of cases, the BBC reports, citing a presentation by U.K. doctors this weekend at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual conference. The research was also published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

????Both drugs are designed to bring the body’s natural defenses in on the fight against the cancer. While the immune system is generally a potent agent in combatting disease, certain built-in “brakes” keep the body from attacking its own tissue — a loophole that cancers can use to continue growing unchecked. But both medications turn those “brakes” off.

????Both drugs are developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb Inc. BMY 2.91% . Another drug, Pembrolizumab, developed by Merck & Co. Inc. MRK -0.23% is reported to have similar qualitiese, according to the BBC.

????In the study, 58% of patients taking both medicines saw their tumours shrink by at least a third over the course of almost a year. Still, perhaps the most important information — how long patients treated with the two medications live — is unknown, and will remain so for some time.

????Skin cancer is among the most common cancers; according to the American Cancer Society (ACS), while melanoma accounts for less than 2% of skin cancers, it causes the majority of skin cancer deaths. The ACS predicts that nearly 10,000 Americans will die of skin cancer in 2015.

????However, the upbeat news was overshadowed at the conference by a high-profile speech condemning the skyrocketing price, not just of BMS’s melanoma-focused drugs, but cancer treatments in general.

????The Wall Street Journal reported Leonard Saltz, chief of gastrointestinal oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, as telling the conference in a speech that the cost of treating one patient with the two-drug combination would be around $295,000 over nearly one year, something he called unsustainable.

????If all U.S. patients with metastatic cancer took drugs priced at $295,000 a year, it would cost $174 billion to treat them all for just one year, the WSJ reported Dr. Saltz as saying.

????“The unsustainably high prices of cancer drugs is a big problem, and it’s our problem,” Dr. Saltz said.

????Dr. Saltz called for an overhaul of the way drugs are priced in the U.S., saying that Medicare should be able to negotiate with pharma companies directly, something currently not allowed by law.