1 . A cancer treatment no longer means what it used to be. Just a few decades ago, the survival rate beyond five years was less than 50%. Now, nearly 70% of those who get cancer survive that long, and that rate is set to rise. Why? Because, more than ever, chemotherapy (化疗) and radiation, once the only ways of cancer treatment, are being paired with or replaced by varieties of new drugs and treatments.

For example, the first medication for what was previously considered an “undruggable” lung cancer was recently approved in the United States, Canada, Europe and the U.K. And a brand-new precise chemotherapy drug delivered directly to breast cancer cells is giving hope to patients with the HER 2-positive form of the disease.

Another discovery has been the promise of a treatment called immunotherapy, as researchers around the world have discovered ways to use the body’s own immune (免疫) system to battle cancer cells.

Also driving hope is a focus on prevention. Decades of research and public education have led to greater awareness of how lifestyle changes can reduce our risk of developing cancer. According to an article from the journal Pharmaceutical Research and published by the National Institutes of Health, 90% to 95% of cancers can be owed to environment and lifestyle, rather than to genetic (基因的) factors.

Employing vaccines (疫苗) is another effective way of prevention. Take the mRNA cancer vaccines for example. The speedy development of COVID-19 vaccines was thanks to foundations already laid by researchers who had been working for years to create mRNA vaccines to fight cancer. These vaccines use a specially programmed molecule (分子) to activate an immune response in the body’s cells. Unlike the COVID-19 vaccines designed to help protect billions of people, each cancer mRNA vaccine is tailored to treat a single patient’s cancer.

In fact, this personalized approach can be made for everyone, and for every cancer.

4 . It isn’t necessary to know everything before heading out into the wilderness, but studying a quality first-aid guide book and familiarizing yourself with the necessary skills can be enough to save someone’s life.

Wilderness Medicine: Beyond First Aid by William W. Forgey

This book does a great job of breaking down how to examine, judge, and stabilize your patient or situation, manage the person’s physical symptoms(症状), and know what questions to ask. It covers a wider range of possible injuries and treatment options than some other wilderness first-aid books. This book costs $12.79 and is easy to read and understand.

Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills by The Mountaineers

In its 9th edition, the book, which costs $21.99, has become a gold standard for anyone planning to spend significant time in the backcountry. Written by climbers for climbers, this book has everything you need to know to stay safer, from basic first aid to staying safe in avalanche terrain(雪崩地形), and learning how to move forward without networking.

Mountaineering: Essential Skills for Hikers and Climbers by Alun Richardson

The book, which costs $13.59, not only contains information about wilderness first aid but also attempts to teach you safety and survival skills from hiking basics to winter adventures. This book stands out because of its detailed visual diagrams that illustrate the right and wrong ways to achieve different techniques.

Medicine for Mountaineering & Other Wilderness Activities by James Wilkerson

The book, which costs $32.95, is a great addition to your collection if you’ve already read some of the other wilderness first-aid books, and maybe even taken a course already but are still wanting to learn more. Many doctors and nurses like this book because they practice basic medical diagnosis(诊断) regularly.

9 . Scientists have transfused (输血) lab-made red blood cells into a human volunteer in a world-first trial that experts say has major potential for people with hard-to-match blood types or conditions such as sickle cell disease. The research could someday mean an end to long searches for compatible donors (匹配的捐赠者) or dangerous transfusion reactions.

The experimental transfusion was done at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, England, as part of a joint effort among UK scientists to understand how lab-made blood transfusions could work.

The scientists took whole blood from donors in a UK database and separated out the stem cells. These are the body’s raw materials — the cells from which all specialized cells,like a red blood cell, can generate.Researchers grew red blood cells from those stem cells and transfused them into two healthy volunteers.

The transfusions involved only a tiny amount of blood: about one or two teaspoons. A standard blood transfusion would involve many hundred times that amount. This stage of the trial involves two mini transfusions at least four months apart, one with a standard donation of red cells and the other with lab-made cells from the same donor.

The researchers are closely monitoring the volunteers to determine whether the process was safe. They say there have been with“no unexpected side effects” so far. They’re also watching how long the lab-grown cells last compared with an infusion of standard red blood cells. Red blood cells typically last about 120 days, but a transfusion from a standard donation contains cells that are a variety of ages because the bone marrow (骨髓) continuously makes these cells.

Previous tests have shown that manufactured cells function like normal cells and that these lab-made cells are likely to survive longer overall while in circulation. This study will determine for the first time whether that’s true.

Further trials will be necessary to determine whether there could be a clinical use of this lab-grown product.

The research could eventually make a difference for people with sickle cell disease, those who. develop antibodies against most donor blood types, or those with genetic disorders in which their bod can’t make red blood cells or the blood cells they make don’t work well.