DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Researchers Develop an Experimental Tre

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Researchers Develop an Experimental Treatment Against Cervical Cancer
By Jill Moss¹

Broadcast: Monday, April 11, 2005

This is Steve Ember with the V.O.A. Special English Development Report.

Research scientists have developed an experimental treatment to protect women against cervical cancer. A new study found the treatment kept almost everyone tested safe from infections that lead to the disease. The medical publication "Lancet Oncology" reported on the study.

Experts say more than two hundred thousand women die from cervical cancer every year. These deaths are most common in developing countries. The main cause of cervical cancer is the human papilloma virus, or H.P.V. This is a common virus that people can give each other through sexual activity.

H.P.V. usually is harmless and disappears in healthy women. But, if it remains² in the body, the virus greatly increases the chances of cervical cancer.

The cervix is part of the female reproductive system. It is the opening at the end of the uterus. H.P.V. infections are responsible for genital warts³. These growths on reproductive organs can lead to cervical cancer.

Cervical cancers develop slowly, usually over a period of ten or twenty years. There are tests that can find the disease early enough to save a woman's life. A common test is called a Pap smear⁴. Laboratory workers examine cells under a microscope.

Luisa Villa⁵ of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Brazil organized the new study. It involved five hundred fifty-two women from Brazil, Europe and the United States. About half of them were given repeated injections of the treatment, or vaccine⁶. The other half received a harmless substance, or placebo⁷. Researchers observed the two groups for three years. During that period, the women received repeated Pap spears. H.P.V. tests also were performed.

The researchers say the vaccine was effective in preventing infection from four forms of H.P.V. Doctor Villa and her team found the vaccine was ninety percent effective in preventing the majority of viral infections. They also say it was one hundred percent effective in preventing genital warts and cervical lesions, which can lead to cancer.

More studies will be done to test the effectiveness of the vaccine. One drug-maker, Merck, is expected to ask the United States Food and Drug Administration to approve the vaccine later this year. If approved, it may be offered as early as next year.

This V.O.A. Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. This is Steve Ember.

1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 warts   

n.疣( wart的名词复数 )；肉赘；树瘤；缺点

参考例句：

• You agreed to marry me, warts and all! 是你同意和我结婚的，我又没掩饰缺陷。 来自辞典例句
• Talk about trying to cure warts with spunk-water such a blame fool way as that! 用那样糊涂蛋的方法还谈什么仙水治疣子！ 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

4 smear   

v.涂抹；诽谤，玷污；n.污点；诽谤，污蔑

参考例句：

• He has been spreading false stories in an attempt to smear us.他一直在散布谎言企图诽谤我们。
• There's a smear on your shirt.你衬衫上有个污点。

5 villa   

n.别墅，城郊小屋

参考例句：

• We rented a villa in France for the summer holidays.我们在法国租了一幢别墅消夏。
• We are quartered in a beautiful villa.我们住在一栋漂亮的别墅里。

6 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

7 placebo   

n.安慰剂；宽慰话

参考例句：

• The placebo has been found to work with a lot of different cases.人们已发现安慰剂能在很多不同的病例中发挥作用。
• The placebo effect refers to all the observable behaviors caused by placebo.安慰剂效应是指由安慰剂所引起的可观察的行为。