Cancer

Cancer Today, cancer causes one in every seven deaths worldwide. But how does cancer start? And what is being done to combat it? Our bodies contain trillions of highly specialized cells, and each carries genes responsible for regulating cell growth and division. But when a genetic change disrupts this process, cells begin to grow and divide uncontrollably, thereby becoming cancer. The genetic changes that cause cancer usually happen in three types of genes: Proto-oncogenes, which signal a cell to grow and divide; Tumor Suppressor Genes, which signal a cell to stop dividing; and DNA Repair Genes, which preserve and maintain genetic codes. Changes in these genes lead to abnormal cell growth, resulting in masses of tissues called Tumors. Tumors may be benign, meaning that they remain in one area; or malignant, which means that they are capable of spreading. Through a process called Metastasis, a malignant tumor’s cells will eventually break off, travel throughout the body, and begin forming tumors in other regions. When this happens the cancer has become metastatic and is most dangerous. The cause of cancer is still a mystery. Inherited traits may be behind some of the genetic changes that lead to the formation of cancerous cells, and so might environmental exposures, such as excessive radiation from the sun, or chemicals and cigarette smoke. In the United States today, roughly 1/3 of all people will eventually develop cancer. Of the over 100 different types of cancer, Breast Cancer is currently the most prevalent type, and Lung Cancer causes the most deaths. But our ability to fight cancer is improving. Since just the 1990s, cancer mortality rates have dropped more than 26 percent in the US, and more than 2 million lives have been saved. As treatments and methods of early detection improve, and doctors, scientists, and the public better understand cancer, hope remains in the fight against the disease.  cancer [‘kænsɚ] n. 癌症；恶性肿瘤 cancerous [‘kænsɚrəs] adj. 癌的 combat [kəmˈbæt]vt. 与……战斗；防止，抑制 [‘kɑmbæt] n. 战斗；搏斗 trillion [‘trɪljən] n. 万亿 division [dɪ’vɪʒ(ə)n] n. 分配，分开；部门 genetic [dʒə’netɪk] adj. 基因的；遗传的 disrupt [dɪs’rʌpt] vt. 扰乱；使中断；使分裂 uncontrollably [,ʌnkən’trəuləbli] adv. 控制不住地 thereby [,ðer’baɪ] adv. 从而，因此 proto-oncogene [‘prəutəu'ɔŋkədʒi:n] n. [肿瘤] 原癌基因 tumor [‘tju:mə(r)] n. 肿瘤；肿块 suppressor [sə’presɚ] n. 抑制物；消除器 preserve [prɪ’zɝv] vt. 保存，保留 code [kəʊd] n. 代码，密码；编码 abnormal [æbˈnɔrməl] adj. 反常的；变态的 tissue [‘tɪʃuː] n. 组织；纸巾 benign [bɪ’naɪn] adj. 良性的 malignant [mə’lɪgnənt] adj. 恶性的 metastasis [mə'tæstəsɪs] n.（瘤）转移 metastatic [,metə’stætɪk] adj.（癌细胞的）转移性的 Inherited [ɪn’herɪtɪd] adj. 遗传的；通过继承得到的 trait [treɪt] n. 特性，特征 formation [fɔr’meɪʃən] n. 形成 excessive [ɪkˈsesɪv] adj. 过量的，过度的 radiation [reɪdɪ’eɪʃ(ə)n] n. 辐**************************************************************房，胸部 prevalent [‘prev(ə)l(ə)nt] adj. 盛行的；普遍存在的 lung [lʌŋ] n. 肺 mortality [mɔr’tæləti] n. 死亡数；死亡率 treatment [‘triːtm(ə)nt] n. 治疗；疗法；对待；待遇 detection [dɪ’tekʃ(ə)n] n. 察觉；探测  one in every seven 每七个当中就有一个 trillions of 上万亿的 genetic change 遗传变化 Tumor Suppressor Gene 肿瘤抑制基因 DNA Repair Gene 遗传物质修复基因 break off 分离；脱离 inherited trait 遗传性状 environmental exposure 环境暴露 excessive radiation 过量辐******************腺癌 the most prevalent type 最盛行的类型 Lung Cancer 肺癌 mortality rate 死亡率 early detection 早期检测 the fight against sth. 与某事的斗争  癌症 今天，全世界每7例死亡，就有1例是癌症引起的。但癌症是如何开始的？抗击癌症正在采取哪些措施？ 我们的身体含有数万亿个高度特化的细胞，每个细胞都携带负责控制细胞生长和分裂的基因。但是当遗传变化扰乱这一过程时，细胞开始不受控制地生长并分裂，从而成为癌症。导致癌症的遗传变化通常发生在三种类型的基因中：“原癌基因”，它们指示细胞生长和分裂；“肿瘤抑制基因”，它们指示细胞停止分裂；以及“遗传物质修复基因”，它们保留和维护遗传密码。这些基因的变化导致细胞生长异常，结果会产生大量叫做“肿瘤”的组织。肿瘤可能是良性的，这意味着它们仅保持在一个区域；肿瘤也可能是恶性的，这意味着它们能够传播。通过一个叫做“转移”的过程，恶性肿瘤细胞最终会脱落，遍及全身，并开始在其他区域形成肿瘤。当这种情况发生时，癌症已经转移并且最危险。 癌症的原因仍然是一个谜。遗传性状可能是导致癌细胞形成的一些遗传变化背后的原因，环境暴露可能也是如此，例如来自太阳的过度辐***************************************************腺癌”是目前最普遍的类型，“肺癌”导致的死亡人数最多。 但我们抗击癌症的能力正在提高。自20世纪90年代以来，美国的癌症死亡率下降了26％以上，200多万人的生命得以被挽救。随着治疗和早期检测方法的改善，以及医生、科学家和公众对癌症更好的了解，在与此类疾病作斗争的过程中，希望仍然存在。