VOA慢速英语2012 Health Report - Gene Mapping Identifies Four Different Types of Breast Cancer

Health Report - Gene 1 Mapping Identifies Four Different Types of Breast Cancer

健康报道 - 基因定位识别出四种不同类型的乳腺癌

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道。

A new genetic 2 study has found four different types of breast cancer. Experts say this explains why drugs used to treat one form of breast cancer may not work to cure another form.

一项新的遗传研究发现了四种不同类型的乳腺癌。专家说，这解释了为什么用于治疗一种乳腺癌的药物无法完全治愈另一种乳腺癌。

The findings are the latest results of a large cancer-gene mapping project called the Cancer Genome Atlas 3. Money for the research comes from the United States government’s National Cancer Institute. The project began in two thousand six. Organizers set a goal of identifying the bio-molecular 4 causes of more than two hundred human cancers.

这一研究结果是被称为癌症基因图谱的大型癌症基因定位项目的最新成果。研究资金来自美国政府的国家癌症研究所。该项目始于2006年。主办单位设定了识别两百多种人类癌症的分子生物原因的目标。

The latest findings offer the possibility of more-effective treatments for breast cancer with drugs that already exist. The findings are also giving doctors hope that they could one day find a cure for breast cancer.

最新研究结果提供了使用现存药物治疗乳腺癌的更有效疗法的可能性。这一结果也给了医生终有一天发现乳腺癌疗法的希望。

The World Health Organization says breast cancer kills about four hundred fifty thousand people every year. It is the number one cause of cancer deaths in women.

世界卫生组织表示，乳腺癌每年导致45万人死亡，是女性癌症死亡的头号原因。

The new study showed similarities between some breast cancer tumors and cancer cells that invade other parts of the body.

这项新的研究显示了乳腺癌肿瘤和癌症细胞入侵身体其它部分的一些相似之处。

Researchers studied genetic material in breast cancer tumors from more than eight hundred patients. They found that cells in one of the breast cancer types looked like cells found in ovarian cancer tumors. The researchers say it is possible that drugs used to fight ovarian cancer might be effective against the breast tumors.

研究人员研究了来自800多名患者的乳腺癌肿瘤中的遗传物质。他们发现一种乳腺癌的细胞同卵巢癌肿瘤中发现的细胞类似。研究人员说，有可能用于对抗卵巢癌的药物对乳腺癌也是有效的。

Jeff Boyd is with Molecular Medicine at Temple University’s Foxchase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He says doctors cannot treat all breast cancers in the same way.

杰夫·博伊德（Jeff Boyd）在宾夕法尼亚州费城坦普尔大学Foxchase癌症中心从事分子医学研究。他说，医生没法以同一种方式治疗所有癌症。

JEFF BOYD: “What we are learning is that, you know, we’ve got to get beyond this ‘treat every breast cancer the same’ -- do a lumpectomy, treat with these three drugs, you know, radiate 5 locally and cross your fingers. We now know that, as we’re beginning to learn for many cancer types, that there are multiple molecular genetic cancers which render them essentially 6 separate diseases.”

博伊德：“我们现在了解到，你知道，我们已经突破了‘用同种方法治疗每种乳腺癌，’即做乳房肿瘤切除术，用这三种药物治疗，局部化疗并祈求幸运（cross your fingers）。随着我们开始了解多种癌症类型，我们现在知道有多重分子遗传癌症，让它们成为了实质不同的疾病。”

For example, a drug called Herceptin has been approved for use to treat all breast cancers. But the drug does not work on all breast tumors. Now, researchers have a better understanding why.

例如，一种被称为赫赛汀（Herceptin）的药物已被批准用于治疗所有类型的乳腺癌。但这种药物并非对所有乳腺肿瘤有效。现在研究人员更好地了解到了原因。

Mathew Ellis is a cancer researcher at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He has worked with the Cancer Genome Atlas. He hopes targeted treatments for different types of breast cancer will soon become available to help his patients.

马修·埃利斯（Mathew Ellis）是密苏里州圣路易斯市华盛顿大学的一名癌症研究人员。他曾同癌症基因图谱项目合作。他希望各种不同类型乳腺癌的定向疗法可以很快帮助到他的病人。

MATTHEW ELLIS: “Now we have to fast-forward to a day -- hopefully in the next year or two -- where at least in clinical studies the information is flowing forward to the patients and the doctors. And critically that data flow includes access to the drugs.”

埃利斯：“现在我们必须快速进入到那天，希望在未来一两年，至少在临床研究中，这些信息会流向病人和医生。关键是那些数据流包括药物的获得。”

And that’s the VOA Special English Health Report. We have placed a link to the breast cancer study on our website, www.voanews.cn. I’m Steve Ember.

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Contributing: Jessica Berman