《The Emperor of All Maladies: A

Those who have not been trained in chemistry or medicine may not realize how difficult the problem of cancer treatment really is. It is almost—not quite, but almost—as hard as finding some agent that will dissolve away the left ear, say, and leave the right ear unharmed. So slight is the difference between the cancer cell and its normal ancestor.
—William Woglom

• agent /ˈeɪdʒənt/ n. 代理人，经纪人；（化学）药剂
• dissolve /dɪˈzɑːlv/ v. 使溶解；使液化；使分解
• slight /slaɪt/ adj. very small in degree 轻微的；略微的
• ancestor /ˈænsestər/ n. 祖宗；祖先

那些没有经过化学或医学培训的人，可能不会意识到治疗癌症到底有多难。它几乎——虽然不完全是，但却是几乎——相当于要找到一种药剂，它既可以溶解掉左耳，又可以保证右耳完好无损。癌细胞和它变异前的正常细胞之间的差异就是如此细微。
—— William Woglom