NBC晚间新闻 近距离观察癌症

Taking a closer look at the word ‘cancer’

近距离观察癌症

A panel of experts at the National Cancer Institute is recommending

doctors change the way they diagnose and treat some types of disease

that have little or no chance of being lethal¹. NBC’s Dr. Nancy

Snyderman reports.

美国国家癌症研究所的一群专家推荐医生改变诊断和治疗某些几乎不致命的疾病

的方法。NBC的Nancy Snyderman博士报道。

Good evening. Our lead story comes from the world of medicine.

It's about cancer, and it's about changing how we refer to it,

changing our definition of it. In part, it's about the minor² stuff,

the comparatively smaller things discovered during screenings giving

them different names, making them a lot less scary. A panel of this

nation's top doctors now says even the word cancer is often misused³.

They warn not all cancers are alike, not all are deadly so they

shouldn't be treated or talked about the same way. In plain English,

they want to stop wasting time, money and worry and concentrate on

what's important. It's where we begin here tonight with our medical

editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman. This is important stuff.

It is. Good evening, Brian. For many in the cancer world today's

step is long overdue⁴ in making the diagnosis⁵ and treatment of cancer

smarter and more cost effective. Turn the page of any dictionary, land

on the letter "C" and find one of the most frightening words no one

wants to hear, cancer. This one word carries a loaded and complex

meaning for millions of Americans every year. A panel of experts

advising the National Cancer Institute is recommending an about face

in the way doctors diagnose and treat some types of the disease that

have little or no chance of being lethal. In fact, the group is even

taking a closer look at what the word cancer means in some instances.

For example, in women the diagnosis ductal carcinoma in situ is a non

-lethal breast disease that should not be called cancer.

Whenever something is called carcinoma or cancer people immediately

want to act, and the reality is we should be watching them as opposed

to aggressively treating.

66-year-old Rue⁶ Harris wishes he had taken a conservative approach

to a possible prostate cancer diagnosis a few years ago. A high PSA

level had him and his doctor worried he might have the disease which

can be slow growing. He got a biopsy which came back normal, but that

process wasted his money, the health care system 's money, not to

mention costing him lost time and anxiety.

I spent that whole year between the first biopsy and the second

biopsy preparing to die. I wasn't enjoying living. I was scared of the

possibility that I might have cancer, and that I would die.

reporter: The organs most overtested for cancer, this panel says,

include thyroid, breast, prostate and lung.

Today's announcement is hopefully a big step in a long process.

some of these lesions are not aggressive and actually don't need to be

treated and can be watched.

Will there be some pushback? You bet there will, but there is no

smoking gun. Not an attempt to get insurance companies not to cover

people. It's to make our medical system work smarter for us, and the

next thing I think, Brian, we'll have to stop defining cancers by

organ systems and recognize that cancer of the lung has some

properties in common with other cancers like of the prostate and ovary

and start to treat them with regard to their genetics.

So it's about language, yes, but also prioritizing in what's become

a test-crazy nation.

Exactly. I mean, if you start CT scanning and MRI scanning everybody,

you're going to start seeing things that aren't normal. Does that mean

you should take everything out and treating people? The answer is no.

We know we waste one-third of our medical expenditures⁷ on things that

aren't worth chasing or aren't worth treating, and you know what? We

hurt people in the process. So the smarter we make this, the better we

make it.

That's why today was so impactful. Nancy, thank you as always.

1 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

2 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

3 misused   

v.使用…不当( misuse的过去式和过去分词 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用

参考例句：

• He misused his dog shamefully. 他可耻地虐待自己的狗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had grossly misused his power. 他严重滥用职权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

5 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

6 rue   

n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔

参考例句：

• You'll rue having failed in the examination.你会悔恨考试失败。
• You're going to rue this the longest day that you live.你要终身悔恨不尽呢。

7 expenditures   

n.花费( expenditure的名词复数 )；使用；（尤指金钱的）支出额；（精力、时间、材料等的）耗费

参考例句：

• We have overspent.We'll have to let up our expenditures next month. 我们已经超支了，下个月一定得节约开支。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pension includes an allowance of fifty pounds for traffic expenditures. 年金中包括50镑交通费补贴。 来自《简明英汉词典》