VOA标准英语2010年-Harvard Initiative Aims For Early Brea

Harvard researchers have noticed an unusual increase in the number of women with breast cancer in developing countries. So they have spearheaded an international drive to expand research and gather relevant statistics to begin to address the problem.
 
In the U.S., people race to raise money for breast cancer research.  Celebrities¹ endorse² fundraisers.   And women with breast cancer talk about it openly, including two former First Ladies who spoke³ publicly about their cancers, Betty Ford⁴ in 1972 and Nancy Reagan more than a decade later.

"The common thought until very recently was that this is a disease only of wealthy women and wealthy countries," said Harvard University's Felicia Knaul.

She heads a program at Harvard University which aims to find a way to provide cancer care, including breast cancer, to more people in developing countries.

Harvard research shows that more than half of the 450,000 people who died from breast cancer last year lived in developing countries.

"If a woman gets breast cancer in the developing world, they [she] has a much higher probability of dying than a woman who gets breast cancer in the developed world," added Knaul.

Dr. Elmer Huerta at Washington Hospital Center sees many Hispanic patients. He says part of the problem with breast cancer is the disease itself.

"Breast cancer is a silent condition.  It doesn't hurt when it's growing," said Dr. Huerta.

Dr. Huerta says many Latin and South American communities do not have mammography machines, and there is a general lack of knowledge about the disease.

"So if you have a combination of a silent condition, a combination of lack of access to early detection methods, then what you get, when women find they have something, usually the tumor⁵ has grown, has metastasized," added Dr. Huerta.  "And then they seek medical care and it is too late."

Dr. Shawna Willey has seen the same thing in Nigeria.

"Economics is the biggest barrier. This is a base population that is very poor," noted⁶ Willey.

And it is a cash society.

"It's all pay as you go," added Willey.  "So if they wanted to have a biopsy done, they had to arrive at the hospital with cash in their hand.  The same would be true if they were to have a mammogram done."

Knaul would like to reduce costs by training local examiners.

"To do a good breast clinical exam, you do not require an oncologist," said Felicia Knaul.  "You need someone who's been properly trained, and it's not that difficult to get this training."

Barriers to treatment differ from country to country. In some countries, the disease is stigmatized⁷. Doctors might not even discuss it with a woman who has breast cancer.

Harvard is working with officials and medical experts in many parts of the world to identify the barriers and help countries eliminate them so women can be screened and diagnosed in the early stages when breast cancer can still be treated.

 

1 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

2 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

5 tumor   

n.（肿）瘤，肿块(英)tumour

参考例句：

• He was died of a malignant tumor.他死于恶性肿瘤。
• The surgeons irradiated the tumor.外科医生用X射线照射那个肿瘤。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 stigmatized   

v.使受耻辱，指责，污辱( stigmatize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was stigmatized as an ex-convict. 他遭人污辱，说他给判过刑。 来自辞典例句
• Such a view has been stigmatized as mechanical jurisprudence. 蔑称这种观点为机械法学。 来自辞典例句