[ti:New Technology Helps Find Pancreatic Cancer] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer known. [00:06.16]The disease is hard to detect and is usually found when it has progressed too far to be cured. [00:15.12]But researchers are using new technology that might prevent some people from developing the disease. [00:24.52]The pancreas is an important organ that produces insulin. [00:30.72]Insulin is a hormone that controls the body's blood sugar. [00:36.72]The pancreas, however, is hard to see. [00:41.84]It is at the back of the abdomen and is covered by the stomach and the liver. [00:48.84]That is why doctors have a hard time identifying early tumors during normal physical examinations. [00:58.76]Doctor Somashekar Krishna says that is why only 9 percent of patients diagnosed [01:06.56]with pancreatic cancer are alive five years after doctors find the disease. [01:15.16]Krishna is an endocrinologist, a person who studies hormones and the organs that produce them. [01:23.80]"The cancer doesn't produce any symptoms early on," he said. [01:30.00]Patricia Beatty went to the hospital with what she thought was a stomach virus. [01:35.88]However, during a scan of her stomach, the doctor found a cyst. [01:42.40]"He told me that the cyst was there and that it was precancerous," Beatty said. [01:50.16]Pancreatic cancer can develop in one of two ways. [01:55.24]The disease starts either as a cancerous tumor, or it starts when a cyst becomes cancerous. [02:04.72]The difference between a tumor and a cyst is that a tumor is solid, while a cyst is filled with fluid. [02:14.60]Cysts on the pancreas are common. Most are not cancerous. [02:22.52]Doctors can test fluid from inside the cyst, but it is hard to tell which cysts will develop into cancer. [02:33.44]Cancerous tumors or cysts can be identified with special imaging tools. [02:40.56]But imaging is so costly that it cannot be used as a usual testing device. [02:49.00]Krishna led a study of a new device that gives doctors a microscopic look at cysts [02:56.20]at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. [03:01.60]Krishna says his study showed that the new device is highly accurate. [03:08.52]"We can diagnose cysts with the accuracy of 96% to 97%," he said. [03:17.44]The method uses a tiny microscope with a laser light to produce a picture of the inside of the cyst. [03:27.20]Krishna and others are training doctors across the U.S. to use this new technology [03:34.88]so they can more accurately identify precancerous cysts. [03:40.64]However, doctors will only use the new method after other imaging tests are ordered for another reason. [03:51.12]That means the cancer will still grow silently in most people until it is too late to save them. [04:00.88]Krishna told VOA that a blood test is the most sensible way to find pancreatic cancer early. [04:11.32]But he noted that the test has not been developed yet although researchers continue to work on one. [04:20.00]I'm Jonathan Evans. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM