SCIENCE REPORT - Blood Test For Ovarian Cancer

SCIENCE REPORT - February 28, 2002: Blood Test For Ovarian Cancer

By Nancy Steinbach
This is the VOA Special English Science Report.

American medical researchers say they have developed a simple blood test that can tell if a woman has ovarian
cancer. Cancer of the ovaries is one of the most difficult cancers to find and cure. That is because there has been
no effective way to tell if a woman has the disease¹ until it has spread throughout² the body.

Researchers say about twenty-four-thousand American women are found to have ovarian cancer every year.
About fourteen-thousand of them die each year. Cancer experts say that ninety percent of women with ovarian
cancer could be cured if the cancer was found early.

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute and the Food and Drug Administration³ developed the new test. It
requires a very small amount of blood and gives results in thirty minutes. The test looks for a group of proteins
that is present in the blood of women with ovarian cancer. The researchers reported their work in the British
publication⁴ The Lancet.

In the study, the researchers took blood from fifty women known⁵ to have ovarian cancer and fifty women without
the disease. They examined the blood samples using a computer program developed by the Correlogic Systems
Company of Bethesda, Maryland. The computer program found a group of five proteins in the blood samples of
all the cancer victims⁶.

The researchers then looked for that protein group in one-hundred-sixteen other blood samples. Fifty of the blood
samples were from women with ovarian cancer. Sixty-six were from women without the disease. The researchers
did not know which samples came from which women. The test correctly identified all fifty cases of ovarian
cancer, including eighteen that were in the earliest forms of the disease. However, the test falsely identified three
healthy women as having ovarian cancer.

The researchers now plan to do more tests involving larger numbers of women. They say it will be several years
before the test could be used for all women. They say it will most likely be used first for women who have a
greater than normal chance of developing⁷ ovarian cancer.

The researchers say their testing method could be used to find other cancers, too. They are working to develop
similar tests to find cancers of the pancreas, breast⁸ and prostate.

This VOA Special English Science Report was written by Nancy Steinbach.

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1 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

2 throughout   

adv.到处，自始至终；prep.遍及，贯穿

参考例句：

• These magazines are sold at bookstores throughout the country.这些杂志在全国各地书店均有发售。
• Guilin is known throughout the world for its scenery.桂林以山水著称于世。

3 administration   

n.经营，管理；行政，行政机关，管理部门

参考例句：

• Who is in charge of the administration of your company?你们公司的行政工作由谁负责？
• The teachers are responsible to the school administration.教师向学校行政负责。

4 publication   

n.出版，发行；出版；公布，发表

参考例句：

• They don't think this article is suitable for publication.他们认为这篇文章不宜发表。
• The government has delayed publication of the trade figures.政府已将贸易统计数字延后公布。

5 known   

adj.大家知道的；知名的，已知的

参考例句：

• He is a known artist.他是一个知名的艺术家。
• He is known both as a painter and as a statesman.他是知名的画家及政治家。

6 victims   

n.牺牲者( victim的名词复数 )；牺牲品；受骗者；为祭祀杀死的动物（或人）

参考例句：

• Many charities sent money to help the victims of the famine. 许多慈善机构捐款赈济饥民。
• victims of child abuse 受虐待的儿童

7 developing   

adj.发展中的

参考例句：

• Transport has always been the key to developing trade.运输一直是发展贸易的关键。
• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。

8 breast   

n.胸部；胸怀

参考例句：

• The coat is too tight at the breast.这件衣服胸部太紧了。
• He was wearing a nameplate on his left breast.他左胸前佩带着一张名牌。