Eating beef staves off cancer, scientists discover
Eating red meat and dairy could help to fight cancer, a new study suggests.
Scientists have discovered that a specific fatty acid found in beef, lamb and dairy products improves the body’s ability to attack and kill tumours.
The study, published in the journal Nature, also shows that patients with higher levels of the fatty acid – known as trans-vaccenic acid (TVA) – in their blood responded better to immunotherapy, suggesting that it could work as a nutritional supplement to complement clinical cancer treatments.
‘There are many studies trying to decipher the link between diet and human health, and it’s very difficult to understand the underlying mechanisms because of the wide variety of foods people eat,’ said co-author Professor Jing Chen, of the University of Chicago.
‘But if we focus on just the nutrients and metabolites derived from food, we begin to see how they influence physiology and pathology. By focusing on nutrients that can activate T cell [immune] responses, we found one that actually enhances anti-tumour immunity by activating an important immune pathway.’
For the study, the team started with a database of around 700 known metabolites, small molecules that come from food, and assembled a ‘blood nutrient’ library.
They then screened the compounds in this new library for their ability to influence anti-tumour immunity.
After the scientists evaluated the top six candidates in both human and mouse cells, they saw that TVA performed the best.
translation
sentence: 一项新研究表明，食用红肉和乳制品可能有助于抗击癌症。
科学家发现，在牛肉、羊肉和乳制品中发现的一种特定脂肪酸能够提高身体对肿瘤的攻击和杀伤能力。
这项研究发表在《自然》杂志上，研究显示血液中含有更高水平的这种脂肪酸，即反式疫苗酸（TVA）的患者对免疫疗法的反应更好，这表明它可能作为一种营养补充物来辅助临床癌症治疗。
芝加哥大学的合著者之一陈静教授说：“有许多研究试图解开饮食和人体健康之间的联系，由于人们吃的食物种类繁多，很难理解其中的潜在机制。”
“但如果我们只关注食物中得到的营养物质和代谢产物，我们开始看到它们如何影响生理和病理。通过专注于可以激活T细胞[免疫]反应的营养物质，我们找到了一种实际上通过激活重要的免疫途径来增强抗肿瘤免疫力的物质。”
在这项研究中，研究团队首先使用大约700种已知的代谢物（来自食物的小分子）的数据库，并建立了一个“血液营养”库。 然后，他们筛选了这个新库中化合物对影响抗肿瘤免疫力的能力。
在科学家评估了在人类和小鼠细胞中排名前六的候选物质后，他们发现TVA表现最佳。
vocabulary
[
{
"name": "dairy",
"trans": [
"adj. 奶制的，乳品的；乳品业的，生产乳品的",
"n. 乳品公司，乳品店；乳制品；牛奶场，乳品场；<新西兰>地方小店；乳牛"
],
"usphone": "'ˈderi'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "suggest",
"trans": [
"v. 提议，建议；推荐，举荐；显示，表明；暗示，暗指；使人想到，使人联想到"
],
"usphone": "'səˈdʒest'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "specific",
"trans": [
"adj. 明确的，具体的；特定的；特有的，独特的；有特殊功能的，有特效的；（生物）种的；（关税，税）按数量（根据固定税率）征取而非按货价征取的；（物理）（与参照物同一性质成）比率的",
"n. 细节，详情；特效药"
],
"usphone": "'spəˈsɪfɪk'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "fatty",
"trans": [
"adj. 脂肪的；肥胖的；多脂肪的；脂肪过多的",
"n. 胖子"
],
"usphone": "'ˈfæti'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "lamb",
"trans": [
"n. 羔羊，小羊；羊羔肉；<非正式>宝贝，乖乖",
"v. 产羊羔；照看（产羔母羊）；<非正式> 怂恿（某人）大笔花钱（尤指花钱纵酒）"
],
"usphone": "'læm'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "tumour",
"trans": [
"n. 肿瘤，肿块"
],
"usphone": "'ˈtuːmər'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "journal",
"trans": [
"ˈdʒɜːrn(ə)l"
],
"usphone": "'n. 杂志，期刊，报纸；日记，日志；（会计）日记账'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "known as",
"trans": [
"被称为"
],
"usphone": "''",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "respond better",
"trans": [
"更好地回应"
],
"usphone": "''",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "immunotherapy",
"trans": [
"n. 免疫疗法"
],
"usphone": "'ˌɪmjunoʊˈθerəpi'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "work as",
"trans": [
"担任；以……身份而工作"
],
"usphone": "''",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "nutritional",
"trans": [
"adj. 营养的"
],
"usphone": "'nuˈtrɪʃən(ə)l'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "supplement",
"trans": [
"n. 补充物，增补物；营养片剂，补品；补助，补贴；额外服务费用；（报纸或杂志的）副刊，增刊；（书籍的）补编，附录；（几何）补角",
"v. 增加，增补"
],
"usphone": "'ˈsʌplɪmənt'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "complement",
"trans": [
"v. 补充，补足",
"n. 补足物，衬托物；足数，足额；补语；余角；补体，防御素"
],
"usphone": "'ˈkɑːmplɪment'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "decipher",
"trans": [
"v. 破译，辨认（难认、难解的东西）；理解（神秘或难懂的事物）"
],
"usphone": "'dɪˈsaɪfər'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "underlying",
"trans": [
"adj. 根本的，潜在的；表面下的，下层的；优先的；（数量或水平）实际的",
"v. 位于…的下面；构成…的基础（****** 的现在分词形式）"
],
"usphone": "'ˌʌndərˈlaɪɪŋ'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "mechanism",
"trans": [
"n. 机械装置，机件；途径，方法；（生物体内的）机制，构造；机械论；（产生自然现象等的）物理过程"
],
"usphone": "'ˈmekənɪzəm'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "variety",
"trans": [
"n. 多样化，变化；种类，品种；（人或物的）各式各样；综艺表演，杂耍表演"
],
"usphone": "'vəˈraɪəti'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "metabolite",
"trans": [
"n. [生化] 代谢物"
],
"usphone": "'məˈtæbəˌlaɪt'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "derive",
"trans": [
"v. 获得，取得；起源于，来自；提取，衍生（化学物质）"
],
"usphone": "'dɪˈraɪv'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "physiology",
"trans": [
"n. 生理学；生理机能"
],
"usphone": "'ˌfɪziˈɑːlədʒi'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "pathology",
"trans": [
"n. 病理学；病状；精神异常；社会异常；语言异常"
],
"usphone": "'pəˈθɑːlədʒi'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "enhance",
"trans": [
"v. 增强，提高，改善"
],
"usphone": "'ɪnˈhæns'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "start with",
"trans": [
"首先，第一"
],
"usphone": "''",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "assemble",
"trans": [
"v. （使）集合，（使）聚集；装配，组装"
],
"usphone": "'əˈsemb(ə)l'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "screen",
"trans": [
"v. 筛选；筛查；遮蔽；检查",
"n. 屏幕；画面；银幕；屏风"
],
"usphone": "'skriːn'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "compound",
"trans": [
"n. 混合物，化合物；复合词；大院，有围墙的场地",
"adj. 复合的，混合的；以复利计算的",
"v. 使加重，使恶化；合成，混合；以复利计算支付；和解，私了"
],
"usphone": "'ˈkɑːmpaʊnd'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "candidate",
"trans": [
"n. 候选人，申请者；有望体验（得到）……的人（物）；投考者，考生；攻读学位者"
],
"usphone": "'ˈkændɪdət'",
"ukphone": "''"
}
]