女性癌症突变基因的预防性手术新发现

    This is the VOA Special English Health Report.
    这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道。

    Every year, one million women around the world are found to have breast cancer. Almost two hundred thousand others are told they have ovarian cancer.
    每年,世界上有100万的女性被确诊患有乳腺癌,大约有20万人患有卵巢癌。

    Thhe decisions for treatment are more difficult when the women have abnormal versions of two genes called BRCA1 and BRCA2. The mutations in these genes can increase the risk for other kinds of cancer, including cancer of the cervix, uterus and pancreas.
    当女性身上叫做BRCA1和BRCA2这两种基因发生异常时,治疗就会更加困难。这两种基因的突变会增加患有其他癌症的风险,包括子宫颈癌,子宫癌和胰腺癌。

    SANDRA COHEN: "It's kinds of like you are sitting on a time bomb waiting for cancer to occur, and it really does a number on you mentally to deal with that every single day."
    桑德拉·科恩(Sandra Cohen):“你就像坐在一个定时炸弹上等待癌症爆发,每天应付这种情况会对你造成精神伤害。”

    Sandra Cohen has never had breast cancer or ovarian cancer. But she has the BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations. So she decided to have doctors remove her breasts and ovaries. She made the decision after her mother and grandmother both died from the same kind of cancers.
    科恩从来没有患过乳腺癌或者卵巢癌,但是她患有BRCA1和BRCA2基因突变,所以她决定摘除乳腺和卵巢。她做这个决定是因为她的母亲和外祖母都是死于这类的癌症。

    Doctors have known for several years that preventative surgery reduces the risk of ovarian and breast cancer for women with the mutations. But a new study also shows that these operations help those patients live longer.
    医生很多年前就知道,预防性的外科手术可以降低基因突变女性患有卵巢癌和乳腺癌的风险,但是一项新研究还显示,这类手术可以帮助这些患者延长生命。

    The four-year study involved about two thousand five hundred women with the genetic mutations.
    有2500名基因突变的女性参与了该项为期四年的研究。

    One of the researchers was Doctor Susan Domchek at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
    来自宾夕法尼亚大学医学院的Susan Domchek博士是研究者之一。

    SUSAN DOMCHECK: "Women who had their ovaries removed had a decrease in the risk of breast cancer, a decrease in the risk of ovarian cancer and, in addition, they were less likely to die of breast cancer, less likely to die of ovarian cancer and also had an improvement in their overall survival."
    Domchek:“摘除卵巢的女性患有乳腺癌和卵巢癌的风险会降低,另外,他们死于乳腺癌和卵巢癌的可能性也比较小,并且他们整体的存活率也会得到改善。”

    The study found that none of the women who had preventative breast removal developed breast cancer. Seven percent later did among those who decided against the surgery.
    该研究发现做过乳腺预防摘除手术的女性中没有人患乳腺癌,后来,反对做这种手术的人群中有7%也做了该项手术。

    The rate of breast cancer was also seven percent among women who did not have their ovaries removed. Among those who did, the breast cancer rate was one percent.
    在没有摘除卵巢的女性中,乳腺癌患病率也是7%,做过卵巢摘除的人群中,乳腺癌患病率是1%。

    The study also found that the women who had ovarian removal lowered their risk of death from ovarian cancer by almost eighty percent. Their risk of death from breast cancer was fifty-six percent lower, says Doctor Susan Domchek.
    该研究还发现,摘除卵巢的女性死于卵巢癌的几率下降了大概80%。Domchek博士称,他们中死于乳腺癌的几率也下降了56%。

    SUSAN DOMCHEK: "Our conclusion is that removing the ovaries particularly is very beneficial to women with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations."
    Domchek:“我们总结出,摘除卵巢对BRCA1和BRCA2基因突变的女性是非常有必要的。”

    The researchers say women with a strong family history of breast or ovarian cancers should get genetic testing. Sandra Cohen did.
    研究者称,有乳腺癌或卵巢癌家族史的女性应该做基因检测。科恩就是做了这个基因检测。

    SANDRA COHEN: "Do some research with a genetic counselor. Meet some other women who have gone through it. It really will empower you and give you strength to take some action."
    科恩:“与遗传咨询师进行探讨,见见有过这种经历的女性,能够鼓励你并给予你采取行动的信心。”

    The study appeared in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.
    该研究发表在美国医学会期刊(Journal of the American Medical Association)上。