A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
个人 mRNA 疫苗减少黑色素瘤复发
A Personalized Melanoma Vaccine Makes Cancer Less Likely to Return
About this story
Moderna and Merck say a personalized mRNA vaccine kept high-risk melanoma from coming back longer in a late-stage trial. HSK 3 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 3-4 Chinese listening episode that runs about 2 minutes. The full Mandarin script is shown with tap-for-pinyin and a line-by-line English translation, so you can listen and read at once — comprehensible input in the sense of Stephen Krashen's i+1 theory. It teaches 12 key vocabulary words such as 参加、结果、机会 and walks through 3 grammar patterns, each explained in English with examples. The same news story is retold at 4 difficulty levels — use the level selector above to find the version that is challenging but still understandable for you.
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原文Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
English transcript reference
On August 19, Moderna and Merck announced that a personalized mRNA vaccine kept high-risk melanoma from recurring for longer.
The final-stage trial included 1,137 patients.
All had surgery; one group received the existing cancer drug, while the other received that drug plus a personalized vaccine.
Cancer returned and spread elsewhere less often among those receiving both treatments.
The news matters because the vaccine is made according to each patient’s tumor.
Surgery removed the visible tumor, but a small number of cancer cells may remain.
Researchers divided the patients into two groups.
The first group received only the existing cancer drug.
That drug helps the immune system find and attack cancer cells.
The second group received the existing drug and a personalized vaccine.
The personalized vaccine comes from the patient’s own tumor.
Researchers first examine changes in the tumor.
The changes are not exactly the same in every tumor.
The company uses those changes to make a different mRNA vaccine for each patient.
mRNA can deliver a short set of instructions into cells.
After reading them, cells help the immune system recognize changes in cancer cells.
The immune system can then respond more easily when it sees matching cancer cells.
Results showed that patients receiving both treatments remained cancer-free for longer.
The chance of cancer spreading elsewhere in the body was also lower.
This is the first personalized mRNA cancer vaccine to meet its goal in such a large final-stage trial.
But this news is not the final answer.
The companies have not released the complete figures or mature survival results.
The vaccine remains experimental and has not been approved.
Doctors will understand its benefit more clearly after the full data are released.
For hospitals making personalized vaccines, what will be hardest: time, price, or production?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇HSK 3. 这次最后阶段试验有一千一百三十七名患者参加。
HSK 3. 也没有公开病人活了多久的结果。
HSK 3. 癌症去身体其他地方的机会也更小。
HSK 2. 这条新闻重要，是因为疫苗是按照每个患者的肿瘤做的。
HSK 2. 这条新闻重要，是因为……
HSK 2. 是因为疫苗是按照每个患者的肿瘤做的。
HSK 2. 这种药帮助免疫系统找和打癌细胞。
HSK 3. 疫苗还在研究中，也还没有得到批准。
个人疫苗来自患者自己的肿瘤。
个人 mRNA 疫苗让高风险黑色素瘤患者更久没有复发。
细胞看到说明以后，会让免疫系统认识癌细胞的变化。
疫苗是按照每个患者的肿瘤做的。
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法Moves the object in front of the verb. The trial splits patients; mRNA delivers a short instruction into cells.
研究人员把患者分成两组。
mRNA 可以把一张很短的说明送进细胞。
是因为
Gives the reason after the claim. The news matters because the vaccine is built from each patient’s tumor.
这条新闻重要，是因为疫苗是按照每个患者的肿瘤做的。
可是
But. Surgery removes the tumor you can see; a few cancer cells may still be in the body.
手术拿走了看得见的肿瘤，可是身体里可能还有很少的癌细胞。
Proper Nouns
专有名词Sources
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