VOA慢速英语2016--新的测试可以发现早期癌症

New Test Could Find Cancer Earlier 新的测试可以发现早期癌症

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

Cancer is a leading cause of death around the world.

When it comes to cancer, the sooner you know you have it, the better your chances of surviving.

A new blood test could change the way doctors and researchers find cancer in patients. Researchers say the test could provide clues to the early forms of the disease.

Scientists at the University of Swansea in Wales came up with the idea.

Gareth Jenkins is a professor at the university. He says he and his team did not look for cancer. They instead looked for a by-product¹ of cancer. They looked for, what Jenkins calls, the collateral² damage of cancer – the damage left by the disease.

In this case, the by-product was mutated red blood cells.

"In this blood test we don't measure the presence of cancer, we measure the presence of mutated red blood cells which are the collateral damage that occurs -- a by-product of the cancer developing."

The researchers used normal laboratory equipment to perform the tests. This equipment looks for changes in the structure of millions of red blood cells. Those mutated cells lack a surface protein that healthy cells normally have.

"The essence of the test is looking for very rare cells which have picked up a mutation³. The number of mutated red blood cells in a healthy person are around 5 or so mutant cells per million; so, you have to look at millions of red blood cells to detect those rare events. These numbers increase in cancer patients -- they go up to 40 or 50 mutants on average."

The researchers tested blood from about 300 people, all of whom have cancer of the esophagus. Patients with esophageal cancer have high levels of mutated red blood cells. Jenkins says that at this point he is not sure if other cancers would produce similar results.

"We've only been looking at esophageal cancer patients. ‘Do other types of cancer patients have high levels of these mutant red blood cells as well?’ We don't know the answer to that question at present."

The hope is that the new test and other non-invasive methods could one day become part of commonly used medical methods. He says that using a battery, or series, of tests will be the best way to find out if a person has cancer.

"A battery of tests, based on different principles looking at blood, looking at different bodily fluids -- breath, urine -- will be the best way of getting a comprehensive view of whether an individual might or might not have cancer."

These new technologies could save millions of lives.

Words in This Story

non-invasive – adj. medical : done without cutting the body or putting something into the body

collateral damage – n. injury inflicted⁴ on something other than an intended target; specifically : civilian⁵ casualties of a military operation

mutate – v. biology : to cause (a gene) to change and create an unusual characteristic in a plant or animal : to cause mutation in (a gene)

mutation – n. a significant and basic alteration⁶

essence – n. the basic nature of a thing : the quality or qualities that make a thing what it is

battery – n. a group or series of tests; especially : a group of intelligence or personality tests given to a subject as an aid in psychological analysis

principle – n. a law or fact of nature that explains how something works or why something happens

comprehensive – adj. including many, most, or all things

view – n. an opinion or way of thinking about something

1 by-product   

n.副产品，附带产生的结果

参考例句：

• Freedom is the by-product of economic surplus.自由是经济盈余的副产品。
• The raw material for the tyre is a by-product of petrol refining.制造轮胎的原材料是提炼汽油时产生的一种副产品。

2 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

3 mutation   

n.变化，变异，转变

参考例句：

• People who have this mutation need less sleep than others.有这种突变的人需要的睡眠比其他人少。
• So far the discussion has centered entirely around mutation in the strict sense.到目前为止，严格来讲，讨论完全集中于围绕突变问题上。

4 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

5 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

6 alteration   

n.变更，改变；蚀变

参考例句：

• The shirt needs alteration.这件衬衣需要改一改。
• He easily perceived there was an alteration in my countenance.他立刻看出我的脸色和往常有些不同。