2007年VOA标准英语-Doctors May Predict Chances of Surviving Lung C

By Carol Pearson
Washington, DC
05 January 2007
 
watch Lung Cancer Gene¹ report

Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer in the world.  It claims the lives of almost three million people a year.  This cancer is hard to cure, but clues about the most effective treatment seem to be in a patient's genes². VOA's Carol Pearson has more.

Connie West

Connie West shares her reaction when she was diagnosed with lung cancer. "At that time, I thought the very worst," she acknowledges.  "Most people who have lung cancer have a very poor outcome."

But now, researchers say they have identified five genes that could give doctors clues about the chances patients have of surviving lung cancer.

The presence of these five genes could also help determine most lung cancer patients' best course of treatment.

The researchers first examined frozen tumor³ cells from patients with lung cancer.  

They noticed patients with this five-gene profile had better than an 85 percent chance of surviving four years after surgery, provided their cancers were detected early.

Patients with a high-risk profile, or those who did not have these five genes, have less than a 40 percent chance of living four years after surgery.

This genetic⁴ testing could help determine which treatments would work best.  Doctors might treat patients without the five-gene profile more aggressively.  They may spare patients with the five-gene profile from chemotherapy, its side effects and expense.

More study is needed to confirm these findings, but scientists say genetic testing could also lead to drugs that target particular genes.

1 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

2 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

3 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。

4 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。