ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Hasini Jayatilaka - Cancer fighter
Hasini Jayatilaka discovered a novel mechanism that causes cancer cells to break away from tumors and metastasize.

Why you should listen

Hasini Jayatilaka is postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University focused on elucidating mechanisms that govern relapse in childhood cancers, particularly B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) and neuroblastoma.

BCP-ALL is a common childhood malignancy that has seen dramatic improvements in survival using current treatment regimens. However, relapse is the most frequent cause of cancer-related death among children with BCP-ALL. Jayatilaka is studying the activation of pro-survival and drug resistance mechanisms in a subset of the BCP-ALL population that allow tumor cells to persist following treatment and cause relapse.

Jayatilaka is currently conducting research on understanding the complex pathways that govern metastasis, the spread of cancer, which is responsible for 90% of cancer related deaths. She recently discovered a new signaling pathway that controls metastasis and showed that by blocking the pathway, the spread of cancer can be slowed down.

Jayatilaka grew up in Sri Lanka and pursued her BS and PhD in Chemical and Bimolecular Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

More profile about the speaker
Hasini Jayatilaka | Speaker | TED.com
TEDxMidAtlantic

Hasini Jayatilaka: How cancer cells communicate -- and how we can slow them down

哈西妮.賈雅提拉卡: 癌細胞如何溝通和如何減緩其速度

Filmed:
1,769,315 views

當癌細胞在腫瘤裡緊密地匯聚時,它們能相互溝通並協調彼此在體內的移動。如果我們能打斷這個過程,結果會如何?在這場先進科學領域的平易演說中,哈西妮.賈雅提拉卡分享了她的研究成果,一項創新方法,可以用來阻止癌細胞溝通,並終止它們致命的散播能力。
- Cancer fighter
Hasini Jayatilaka discovered a novel mechanism that causes cancer cells to break away from tumors and metastasize. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:13
Cancer癌症.
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癌症。
00:14
It's a devastating破壞性的 disease疾病
that takes an enormous巨大 emotional情緒化 toll收費.
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它是種讓人身心交瘁的致命疾病。
00:19
Not only on the patient患者,
but the patient's耐心 loved喜愛 ones那些, as well.
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不只對病人如此,
對病人的至親亦是如此。
00:24
It is a battle戰鬥 that the human人的 race種族
has been fighting戰鬥 for centuries百年.
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人類這場仗已經打了數個世紀。
00:28
And while we've我們已經 made製作 some advancements進步,
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雖然我們有一些進展,
00:31
we still haven't沒有 beaten毆打 it.
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但我們仍未打敗癌症。
00:35
Two out of five people in the US
will develop發展 cancer癌症 in their lifetime一生.
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在美國人的一生當中,每 5 人
就會有 2 人得到癌症。
00:40
Of those, 90 percent百分 will succumb屈服於
to the disease疾病 due應有 to metastases轉移.
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而 90% 的癌症病人
會死於癌細胞轉移。
00:46
Metastasis轉移 is a spread傳播 of cancer癌症
from a primary site現場 to a distal遠端 site現場,
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轉移就是癌細胞透過循環或淋巴系統
00:52
through通過 the circulatory循環系統
or the lymphatic淋巴 system系統.
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從原發部位擴散到遠端部位。
00:55
For instance, a female patient患者
with breast乳房 cancer癌症
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比如,一位乳癌的女性病人
00:59
doesn't succumb屈服於 to the disease疾病 simply只是
because she has a mass on her breast乳房.
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不會只因她的胸部有腫塊就不治。
01:04
She succumbs屈從 to the disease疾病
because it spreads利差
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她致命的原因是癌症擴散到
01:07
to the lungs, liver,
lymph淋巴 nodes節點, brain, bone,
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她的肺、肝、淋巴結、大腦和骨頭,
01:11
where it becomes unresectable晚期
or untreatable不可治愈.
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而這些地方是無法切除
或無法進行治療的。
01:15
Metastasis轉移 is a complicated複雜 process處理.
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轉移是個複雜的過程。
01:18
One that I've studied研究
for several一些 years年份 now.
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我已經花了數年的時間研究它。
01:21
And something that my team球隊
and I discovered發現 recently最近
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最近我和我的團隊有個發現,
01:25
was that cancer癌症 cells細胞 are able能夠
to communicate通信 with each other
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我們發現癌細胞能夠相互溝通
01:29
and coordinate坐標 their movement運動,
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並協調彼此間的移動,
01:31
based基於 on how closely密切 packed打包 they are
in the tumor microenvironment微環境.
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而這是根據它們在
腫瘤微環境當中的密集程度。
01:36
They communicate通信 with each other
through通過 two signaling發信號 molecules分子
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它們透過兩種訊號分子來彼此溝通:
01:40
called Interleukin-白細胞介6 and Interleukin-白細胞介8.
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介白素 6 和介白素 8。
01:43
Now, like anything else其他 in nature性質,
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就像大自然的萬物一樣,
01:46
when things get a little too tight,
the signal信號 is enhanced增強,
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當太緊密的時候,訊號就會增強,
01:51
causing造成 the cancer癌症 cells細胞
to move移動 away faster更快 from the primary site現場
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造成癌細胞更快速地遠離原發部位,
01:56
and spread傳播 to a new site現場.
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擴散到新的部位。
01:59
So, if we block this signal信號,
using運用 a drug藥物 cocktail雞尾酒 that we developed發達,
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所以,如果能運用我們開發出的
藥物雞尾酒療法來阻絕這個訊號,
02:04
we can stop the communication通訊
between之間 cancer癌症 cells細胞
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我們就能阻擋癌細胞間的溝通,
02:08
and slow down the spread傳播 of cancer癌症.
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減緩癌症的擴散。
02:12
Let me pause暫停 here for a second第二
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讓我先在這裡暫停一下,
02:14
and take you back to when
this all began開始 for me in 2010,
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帶大家回到這一切初始的 2010 年,
02:19
when I was just a sophomore二年級 in college學院.
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當時我還只是個大二生。
02:22
I had just started開始 working加工
in Dr博士 Danny丹尼 Wirtz's喬森·威爾茲的 lab實驗室
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才剛開始在約翰.霍普金斯大學的
丹尼斯.沃茲博士的實驗室工作,
02:25
at Johns約翰斯 Hopkins霍普金斯 University大學.
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02:28
And I'll be honest誠實: I was a young年輕,
naive幼稚, Sri斯里蘭卡 Lankan斯里蘭卡 girl女孩,
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老實說,我當時是個
年輕天真的斯里蘭卡女孩,
02:33
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
02:34
who had no previous以前 research研究 experience經驗.
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以前沒有任何研究經驗。
02:38
And I was tasked任務
to look at how cancer癌症 cells細胞 move移動
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我接到的任務是要觀察癌細胞
在立體第一型膠原蛋白基質的
培養皿中
02:42
in a 3D collagen膠原 I matrix矩陣
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02:44
that recapsulatedrecapsulated, in a dish,
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是如何移動的,
02:47
the conditions條件 that cancer癌症 cells細胞
are exposed裸露 to in our bodies身體.
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它模擬了癌細胞在人體內的環境。
02:52
This was new and exciting扣人心弦 for me,
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我覺得既新奇又興奮,
02:53
because previous以前 work had been doneDONE
on 2D, flat平面, plastic塑料 dishes碗碟
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因為以前研究用的是平面的塑膠皿,
02:58
that really weren't representative代表
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它其實無法真正代表
03:01
of what the cancer癌症 cells細胞
are exposed裸露 to in our bodies身體.
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癌細胞在我們體內的真實狀況。
03:05
Because, let's face面對 it,
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因為,咱們要面對現實,
03:07
the cancer癌症 cells細胞 in our bodies身體
aren't stuck卡住 onto plastic塑料 dishes碗碟.
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我們體內的癌細胞
並非像在塑膠皿中是固定著的。
03:13
It was during this time
that I attended出席 a seminar研討會
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這段時間我參加了一場研討會,
03:16
conducted進行 by Dr博士 Bonnie邦妮 Bassler巴斯賴爾
from Princeton普林斯頓 University大學,
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主講人是普林斯頓大學的
邦尼.巴斯勒博士,
03:20
where she talked about how bacteria cells細胞
communicate通信 with each other,
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她談到細菌細胞如何依據
群體密度所對應的特定行為
來進行彼此的交流。
03:25
based基於 on their population人口 density密度,
and perform演出 a specific具體 action行動.
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03:30
It was at this moment時刻 that a light bulb燈泡
went off in my head, and I thought,
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這一刻我靈光乍現,心想:
03:35
"Wow, I see this
in my cancer癌症 cells細胞 every一切 day,
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「哇,我每天觀察癌細胞的移動
03:38
when it comes to their movement運動."
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也出現這種狀況。」
03:40
The idea理念 for my project項目 was thus從而 born天生.
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從而醞釀出我研究計畫的構想。
03:44
I hypothesized假設 that cancer癌症 cells細胞
are able能夠 to communicate通信 with each other
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我假設癌細胞能夠彼此溝通
03:49
and coordinate坐標 their movement運動,
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並協調相互間的移動,
03:51
based基於 on how closely密切 packed打包 they are
in the tumor microenvironment微環境.
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依據的資訊是它們在
腫瘤微環境中的密集程度。
03:57
I became成為 obsessed痴迷 with pursuing追求
this hypothesis假設.
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我一頭栽入研究這個假設的可能性。
04:01
And fortunately幸好, I work for someone有人
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幸運的是,我的指導教授
04:04
who is open打開 to running賽跑
with my crazy ideas思路.
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以開放的心態來接納我的瘋狂點子。
04:07
So, I threw myself into this project項目.
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所以,我就投入了這個專案計畫。
04:10
However然而, I couldn't不能 do it by myself.
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然而,我無法獨自完成。
04:13
I needed需要 help.
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我需要協助。
04:15
I definitely無疑 needed需要 help.
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我肯定需要協助。
04:17
So we recruited應徵 undergraduate大學本科
students學生們, graduate畢業 students學生們,
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所以我們招募了大學生、研究生、
04:20
postdoctoral博士後 fellows研究員 and professors教授
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博士後研究員以及教授,
04:23
from different不同 institutions機構
and multiple disciplines學科
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他們來自不同的機構、多個科系,
04:27
to come together一起 and work on this idea理念
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集合在一起研究
我在大二時萌生的這個想法。
04:30
that I conceived設想
as a sophomore二年級 in college學院.
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04:33
After years年份 of conducting開展
experiments實驗 together一起
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我們一起做了數年的實驗,
04:37
and merging合併 different不同 ideas思路
and perspectives觀點,
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融合了不同的想法與觀點,
04:40
we discovered發現 a new signaling發信號 pathway
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我們發現了一條新的訊號傳遞路徑,
04:44
that controls控制 how cancer癌症 cells細胞
communicate通信 with each other and move移動,
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它是藉由癌細胞的密度,
來控制彼此間的溝通及移動。
04:49
based基於 on their cell細胞 density密度.
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04:52
Some of you might威力 have heard聽說 this,
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在座有些人可能有聽過,
04:54
because most of social社會 media媒體 knows知道 it
as the HasiniHasini effect影響.
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因為大部分的社群媒體
把它稱為是「哈西妮效應」。
04:58
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
05:01
(Applause掌聲)
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(掌聲)
05:08
And we weren't doneDONE yet然而.
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我們還沒結束。
05:09
We then decided決定 that we wanted
to block this signaling發信號 pathway
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接著,我們決定要阻擋
這條訊號傳遞路徑,
05:14
and see if we could slow down
the spread傳播 of cancer癌症.
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看看是否能藉此減緩癌細胞的擴散。
05:17
Which哪一個 we did, in preclinical臨床前
animal動物 models楷模.
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結果,在臨床前動物模型中
的確是如此。
05:20
We came來了 up with a drug藥物 cocktail雞尾酒
consisting of tocilizumab托珠珠單抗,
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我們提出了一種藥物雞尾酒療法
其中包含安挺樂
05:24
which哪一個 is currently目前 used to treat對待
rheumatoid類風濕 arthritis關節炎,
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它目前用來治療類風濕性關節炎,
05:27
and reparixinreparixin, which哪一個 is currently目前
in clinical臨床 trials試驗 against反對 breast乳房 cancer癌症.
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還有 reparixin,它對抗乳癌的
療效目前尚在臨床試驗階段。
05:33
And interestingly有趣, what we found發現
was that this cocktail雞尾酒 of drugs毒品
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有趣的是,我們發現的
這種藥物雞尾酒療法
05:38
really had no effect影響 on tumor growth發展,
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其實無法抑制腫瘤的成長,
05:40
but directly targeted針對 metastases轉移.
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但卻能直接對付癌細胞的轉移。
05:43
This was a significant重大 finding發現,
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這是個重大的發現,
05:46
because currently目前, there aren't any
FDA-approvedFDA批准 therapeutics療法
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因為目前食品及藥物管理局
尚未核准任何
05:51
that directly target目標 the spread傳播 of cancer癌症.
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直接針對癌細胞擴散的治療法。
05:54
In fact事實, the spread傳播 of cancer癌症, metastasis轉移,
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事實上,癌細胞的擴散也就是轉移,
05:57
is thought of as a byproduct副產品
of tumor growth發展.
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被認為是伴著腫瘤成長而來的。
06:01
Where the idea理念 is, if we can stop
the tumor from growing生長,
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所以會有如果阻止腫瘤成長,
06:04
we can stop the tumor from spreading傳播.
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我們就能阻止腫瘤擴散的想法。
06:07
However然而, most of us know
that this is not true真正.
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然而,我們大部分人都知道,
事實並非如此。
06:12
We, on the other hand,
came來了 up with the drug藥物 cocktail雞尾酒
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另一方面,我們提出了
這種藥物雞尾酒療法,
06:16
that targets目標 metastasis轉移
not by targeting針對 tumor growth發展,
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它對付轉移的方式並不是
把目標放在阻止腫瘤成長上,
06:20
but by targeting針對 the complex複雜
mechanisms機制 that govern治理 it,
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而是把目標放在
控制轉移的複雜機制上,
06:24
through通過 the targeting針對
of the HasiniHasini effect影響.
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透過處理哈西妮效應來達成。
06:27
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
06:29
This work was recently最近 published發表
in "Nature性質 Communications通訊,"
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最近,這項研究已經在
《自然通訊》期刊中刊出,
06:33
and my team球隊 and I received收到 an overwhelming壓倒
response響應 from around the world世界.
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我和我的團隊得到非常多
來自全世界的回應。
06:38
Nobody沒有人 on my team球隊 could have predicted預料到的
this sort分類 of response響應.
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我的團隊中沒有任何人
預期到這樣的反應。
06:42
We seem似乎 to have struck來襲 a nerve神經.
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我們似乎戳到要害了。
06:45
Looking back, I am extremely非常 grateful感激
for the positive response響應 that I received收到,
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現在回頭來看,我非常感謝
我所收到的正面回饋,
06:50
not only from academia學術界, but also patients耐心,
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不只是來自學術界,也來自病人,
06:53
and people around the world世界
affected受影響 by this terrible可怕 disease疾病.
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還有全世界被這可怕的
疾病所影響到的人。
06:58
As I reflect反映 on this success成功
I've encountered遇到 with the HasiniHasini effect影響,
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當我反思在哈西妮效應上
所獲得的成就時,
07:03
I keep coming未來 back to the people
that I was fortunate幸運 enough足夠 to work with.
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會一直想到我有幸共事過的那些人。
07:09
The undergraduate大學本科 students學生們
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那些大學生
07:11
who demonstrated證明 superhuman超人 powers權力
through通過 their hard work and dedication貢獻.
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認真努力和專注奉獻,
展現了他們超凡的能力。
07:16
The graduate畢業 students學生們
and the postdoctoral博士後 fellows研究員,
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研究生和博士後研究員
07:20
my fellow同伴 Avengers復仇者,
who taught me new techniques技術
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我的復仇者聯盟隊友,
他們教會我新的技巧
07:23
and always made製作 sure I stayed on track跟踪.
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且總是確保我沒有偏離正軌。
07:26
The professors教授, my YodasYodas
and my Obi-Wan歐比旺 KenobisKenobis,
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教授們是我的尤達和歐比王,
07:31
who brought their expertise專門知識 into
making製造 this work into what it is today今天.
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他們挹注自己的專業智識
才讓這項研究有了現今的成果。
07:37
The support支持 staff員工, the friends朋友 and family家庭,
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支援人員,包括朋友和家人,
07:40
people who lifted取消 our spirits,
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他們鼓舞我們的士氣,
07:43
and never let us give up
on our ambitious有雄心 endeavors努力.
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不許我們放棄這偉大的使命。
07:47
The best最好 kind of sidekicks插袋
we could have asked for.
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沒有比他們更好的伙伴了。
07:50
It took a village to help me
study研究 metastasis轉移.
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有一整個團隊在協助我研究
癌細胞的轉移。
07:54
And believe me, without my village,
I wouldn't不會 be here.
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相信我,若沒有他們,
我今天就不會站在這裡。
07:59
Today今天, our team球隊 has grown長大的,
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現今,我的團隊已經成長了,
08:01
and we are using運用 the HasiniHasini effect影響
to develop發展 combination組合 therapies治療
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我們用哈西妮效應
所發展出的合併療法,
08:06
that will effectively有效 target目標
tumor growth發展 and metastases轉移.
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將能有效地阻止腫瘤的成長和轉移。
08:10
We are engineering工程
new anticancer抗癌 therapeutics療法,
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我們在研發新的抗癌療法,
08:13
to limit限制 toxicity毒性 and to reduce減少
drug藥物 resistance抵抗性.
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來限制毒性和減低抗藥性。
08:17
And we are developing發展
groundbreaking奠基 systems系統
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我們正發展開創性的系統,
08:21
that will help for the development發展
of better human人的 clinical臨床 trials試驗.
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以便進行更好的人體臨床試驗。
08:26
It blows打擊 my mind心神 to think that all this,
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光想到這些就讓我很興奮,
08:30
the incredible難以置信 work that I'm pursuing追求 --
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我所進行的這項不可思議的研究——
08:33
and the fact事實 that I'm standing常設 here,
talking to you today今天 --
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以及我現在站在這裡對各位演說——
08:36
all came來了 from this tiny idea理念
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這些都來自一個小小的點子,
08:40
that I had when I was sitting坐在
at the back of a seminar研討會
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是我坐在研討會中想出來的,
08:43
when I was just 20 years年份 old.
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而且當年我才二十歲。
08:46
I recognize認識 that right now,
I am on this incredible難以置信 journey旅程
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意識到自己正走在
這不可思議的旅途上,
08:50
that allows允許 me to pursue追求 work
that I am extremely非常 passionate多情 about,
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我得以去追求我非常熱切
想要去做的研究,
08:55
and something that feeds供稿
my curiosity好奇心 on a daily日常 basis基礎.
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每天我的好奇心都能得到滿足。
08:59
But I have to say,
my favorite喜愛 part部分 of all of this --
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但我必須要說,我最喜歡的部分——
09:05
other than, of course課程, being存在 here,
talking to you, today今天 --
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當然,除了今天站在這裡
和各位分享外——
09:08
is the fact事實 that I get to work
with a diverse多種 group of people,
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就是我能和各式各樣的人共事,
09:12
who make my work stronger,
better and just so much more fun開玩笑.
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他們讓我的研究更穩固健全、
更好且更有趣。
09:19
And because of this, I have to say
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因此,我得說,
09:22
that collaboration合作 is my favorite喜愛
superhuman超人 power功率.
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我最喜歡的超能力就是「合作」。
09:26
And what I love about this power功率
is that it's not unique獨特 to me.
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我會愛這項能力是因為
它並非是我獨有的。
09:31
It's within all of us.
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它存在我們每個人的內在。
09:33
My work shows節目 that even cancer癌症 cells細胞
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我的研究顯示,即使是癌細胞
09:36
use collaboration合作 to invade入侵 our bodies身體
and spread傳播 their wrath憤怒.
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也會彼此合作來侵襲我們的身體,
散播它們的怒行。
09:41
For us humans人類, it is a superpower超級大國
that has produced生成 incredible難以置信 discoveries發現
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對我們人類來說,它是種超能力,
且已經在醫學和科學領域中
09:47
in the medical and scientific科學 field領域.
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帶來了許多了不起的發現。
09:49
And it is the superpower超級大國
that we can all turn to
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我們都可以使用這種超能力
09:53
to inspire啟發 us to create創建
something bigger than ourselves我們自己,
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鼓舞自身創造出超越自我的東西,
09:57
that will help make
the world世界 a better place地點.
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讓世界變得更好。
10:00
Collaboration合作 is the superpower超級大國
that I turn to, to help me fight鬥爭 cancer癌症.
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我採用「合作」這項超能力
協助我對抗癌症。
10:06
And I am confident信心
that with the right collaborations合作,
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我有信心,如能妥適地合作,
10:10
we will beat擊敗 this terrible可怕 disease疾病.
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我們將能夠打敗這可怕的疾病。
謝謝。
10:13
Thank you.
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10:14
(Applause掌聲)
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(掌聲)
Translated by Lilian Chiu
Reviewed by SF Huang

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Hasini Jayatilaka - Cancer fighter
Hasini Jayatilaka discovered a novel mechanism that causes cancer cells to break away from tumors and metastasize.

Why you should listen

Hasini Jayatilaka is postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University focused on elucidating mechanisms that govern relapse in childhood cancers, particularly B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) and neuroblastoma.

BCP-ALL is a common childhood malignancy that has seen dramatic improvements in survival using current treatment regimens. However, relapse is the most frequent cause of cancer-related death among children with BCP-ALL. Jayatilaka is studying the activation of pro-survival and drug resistance mechanisms in a subset of the BCP-ALL population that allow tumor cells to persist following treatment and cause relapse.

Jayatilaka is currently conducting research on understanding the complex pathways that govern metastasis, the spread of cancer, which is responsible for 90% of cancer related deaths. She recently discovered a new signaling pathway that controls metastasis and showed that by blocking the pathway, the spread of cancer can be slowed down.

Jayatilaka grew up in Sri Lanka and pursued her BS and PhD in Chemical and Bimolecular Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

More profile about the speaker
Hasini Jayatilaka | Speaker | TED.com