Cancer Deaths Decline for Second Straight Year

美：癌癥致死人數(shù)連續(xù)兩年減少

　　The number of cancer deaths in the United States dropped in 2004 for a second straight year, the American Cancer Society reported today.

　　美國(guó)癌癥協(xié)會(huì)今天報(bào)告說(shuō)，美國(guó)癌癥致死人數(shù)在2004年繼續(xù)減少，這是繼2003年以來(lái)連續(xù)第二年人數(shù)下降。

　　The finding suggests that a small drop reported last year for 2003 - the first in more than 70 years - was real, possibly the start of a continuing decrease and not merely a statistical fluke, the society said.

　　協(xié)會(huì)表示，這一結(jié)論顯示，去年發(fā)布的2003年癌癥致死人數(shù)出現(xiàn)70多年以來(lái)的小幅下降的報(bào)告是可靠的，也可能是人數(shù)繼續(xù)下降的開(kāi)始，而不僅僅是在調(diào)查中僥幸得出的數(shù)據(jù)。

　　From 2003 to 2004 cancer deaths fell by 3,014, considerably more than the previous year's decline of 369. （These are the latest years for which figures are available.）

　　2003-2004年中，癌癥致死的人數(shù)下降了3014，在去年公布的數(shù)據(jù)上（2002-2003年的癌癥致死人數(shù)）有了相當(dāng)大的增加。（這是所有能夠得到的數(shù)據(jù)中最新的數(shù)據(jù)。）

　　Much of the decrease was a result of reductions in smoking and improved detection and treatment of colorectal, breast and prostate cancers, the American Cancer Society said. By far the greatest decreases in mortality have been in colorectal cancer, with 1,110 fewer deaths in men and 1,094 fewer in women.

　　美國(guó)癌癥協(xié)會(huì)把死亡人數(shù)的減少部分歸結(jié)為減少吸煙和改善直腸癌、乳腺癌、前列腺癌的診療技術(shù)。就手頭上的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，人數(shù)減少最多的是因直腸癌致死的，其中男性死亡人數(shù)減少了1110人，女性減少了1094人。

　　Dr. Elizabeth Ward, a managing director in epidemiology and surveillance at the cancer society, said the biggest contributor to the decrease in deaths is the use of screening tests for colorectal cancer, which can detect the disease early when it is most treatable or even prevent it entirely by finding precancerous polyps, which can be removed before they turn malignant.

　　流行病學(xué)專業(yè)執(zhí)行主任兼癌癥協(xié)會(huì)監(jiān)督伊麗莎白·沃德博士認(rèn)為，死亡人數(shù)的減少最主要是由于在治療直腸癌中使用了篩選測(cè)定法。這種方法使得在癌癥在最可治愈的早期就被發(fā)現(xiàn)，甚至還能找到癌癥早期出現(xiàn)的息肉，并在其轉(zhuǎn)化成惡性腫瘤前將其切除，從而達(dá)到完全預(yù)防癌癥的目的。

　　Progress on colorectal cancer has been notable even though only about half the adults who should be screened have undergone the needed tests. If more people were screened, there would likely be even steeper declines in death and the incidence of the disease.

　　盡管只有大約半數(shù)的需要進(jìn)行篩選的成年人進(jìn)行了必要的檢查，但在直腸癌診療方面的進(jìn)步還是令人矚目的。如果更多的人參與到篩選中來(lái)，死亡人數(shù)和發(fā)病率可能下降的更多。

　　Dr. Alfred I. Neugut, the head of cancer prevention and control at Columbia University Medical Center, said colorectal screening was comparable to the Pap test, which led to an 85 percent decrease in the incidence of cervical cancer in this country

　　哥倫比亞大學(xué)醫(yī)療中心的癌癥防控主管阿爾弗勒德·I·柳格特博士認(rèn)為，直腸癌篩選測(cè)定法與帕番實(shí)驗(yàn)一樣重要，帕番實(shí)驗(yàn)使美國(guó)的宮頸癌發(fā)病率減少了85%.

　　Improved treatment and drugs have also played a part in lowering the death rate from colorectal cancer, Dr. Neugut said.

　　柳格特博士表示，在直腸癌死亡人數(shù)下降的原因中，治療方法和藥物的改善也功不可沒(méi)。

　　"There was a revolution in treatment between 1998 and 2000, and revolution is a mild word," Dr. Neugut said. "We went from having one drug to having six or seven good drugs. The cure and survival rates have increased dramatically as a result."

　　“1998年到2000年之間，直腸癌的治療方法經(jīng)歷了一次革命。‘革命’還不足以顯示其重要性，”柳格特博士認(rèn)為。“我們從以前的只有單一的藥物到有了六、七種好的藥物。這大大提高了治愈率和病人的存活率。”

　　Although the drop in deaths is notable, it still pales in comparison to the total of 553,888 cancer deaths in 2004.

　　死亡人數(shù)的下降盡管令人矚目，但在2004年全年553,888例因癌癥死亡的總?cè)藬?shù)面前這也顯得微不足道。

　　The death rate from cancer has been falling by slightly less than 1 percent a year since 1991, but until 2003 the actual number of deaths kept rising because the population was growing and aging. Then, in 2003, the cumulative drop in death rates finally became large enough to outpace aging and population growth.

　　自1991年開(kāi)始，癌癥死亡率以不到1%的比例逐年下降，但是直到2003年，因癌癥致死的總?cè)藬?shù)一直保持上升因?yàn)槿丝诘脑鲩L(zhǎng)和老齡化的出現(xiàn)。隨后，在2003年，一點(diǎn)一點(diǎn)累積起來(lái)的死亡率下降的速度終于超過(guò)了老齡化和人口增長(zhǎng)的速度。 醫(yī)學(xué)教.育網(wǎng)搜集

　　"The decline in the cancer death rates, which has ultimately resulted in a decline in the total number of deaths, really reflects the years of effort and investment in tobacco control, programs for early detection and screening, and programs in clinical and basic research," Dr. Ward said. "We've made a great deal of progress, but we still have a long way to go."

　　“癌癥死亡率的下降最終導(dǎo)致了總的人口死亡率的下降，這確實(shí)是這些年在控制煙草、疾病早期診療與篩選項(xiàng)目和臨床及基礎(chǔ)研究項(xiàng)目上的努力和投資的反應(yīng)，”沃德博士表示。“我們已經(jīng)取得了許多成就，但我們還有很多事情要做。”

　　One area of great concern, Dr. Ward said, is that African Americans have markedly higher death rates than whites from nearly every type of cancer. Researchers do not fully understand why. Disparities in income, education and access to health care could account for much of the difference, but not all of it, researchers say.

　　沃德博士說(shuō)，最讓人關(guān)心的是非裔美國(guó)人在幾乎所有種類的癌癥中的死亡率都明顯比白人高出很多。研究人員還沒(méi)有完全找到原因。他們認(rèn)為，收入、教育、醫(yī)療差距是死亡人數(shù)差距的一些原因，但不完全歸結(jié)于此。

　　"If we really want to continue to make progress by applying what we know, we have to figure out a way to make sure to reach all populations with the information they need to prevent cancer and make sure that all populations have access to early detection and treatment - quality treatment - so that 10 to 20 years from now we don't see the same big differences," Dr. Ward said.

　　“如果我們真的希望利用我們所掌握的技術(shù)繼續(xù)在癌癥診療中取得進(jìn)步，我們必須找到一種途徑讓所有人都能得到他們所需要的如何預(yù)防癌癥的信息，并保證所有人都能夠接受早期診療-高質(zhì)量的治療。這樣，10到20年以后，這種差距就將不再會(huì)存在了，”沃德博士認(rèn)為。

　　Originally, the new cancer figures were to be made public on Friday, but the cancer society changed the release date to today at the request of the head of the National Cancer Institute, who wanted the announcement to coincide with a visit by President Bush to the institute.

　　最初，新的數(shù)據(jù)本計(jì)劃在星期五公之于眾，但應(yīng)美國(guó)國(guó)家癌癥研究所主管的請(qǐng)求，為了配合布什參觀，癌癥協(xié)會(huì)將公布日期改到了今天。