科學家表示，他們已經確定了尿液細菌與惡性前列腺腫瘤之間的關聯。專家希望，這一研究成果可能為發現甚至預防危險的前列腺腫瘤提供新的方法。

Bacterial infection is known to play a part in the development of some other cancers in the body, such as the stomach and bowel. And now researchers believe they have proof that the same could be true for the prostate.

人們已知細菌感染對體內一些癌癥的發展有影響，如胃癌和腸癌。現在，研究人員認為，他們有證據證明，對前列腺來說亦是如此。

The University of East Anglia team studied more than 600 patients with and without prostate cancer, to check if bugs in urine might be associated with the disease.

英國東安格利亞大學的研究小組對600多位患有及未患前列腺癌的人的尿液進行了研究，以檢查其中的細菌是否可能與前列腺癌有關。

They found five bacteria that were linked to aggressive prostate cancer cases. This could be useful clinically since current checks, such as PSA blood tests and biopsies, can't always predict which cancers are dangerous.

他們發現了五種與惡性前列腺腫瘤病例有關的細菌。這對臨床診斷可能很有幫助，因為目前的檢查，如前列腺特異抗原血液檢查和活檢，并不總能預測哪些癌性腫瘤是惡性的。

Prostate cancers are not always life-threatening. Some grow too slowly to ever cause any problems. The challenge is diagnosing and quickly treating the risky ones.

前列腺癌并不一定危及生命。其中有些腫瘤生長得很慢，絕對不會引起任何問題。目前面臨的挑戰是如何診斷并快速治療前列腺惡性腫瘤。

詞匯表

bacterial infection 細菌感染
prostate 前列腺
bugs 細菌
urine 尿液
clinically 臨床診斷地
biopsies 活體組織檢查，活檢
life-threatening 危及生命的
diagnosing 診斷

閱讀理解：請在讀完上文后，回答下列問題。

1. What is now thought to be partly responsible for the development of prostate cancer?

2. What did the research team look at in this study?

3. How might this research improve on the current checks for prostate cancer?

4. True or false? Some prostate cancers grow too slowly to ever cause any problems.

答案  

1. What is now thought to be partly responsible for the development of prostate cancer?
Researchers now believe bacterial infection is known to play a part in the development of prostate cancer.

2. What did the research team look at in this study?
The University of East Anglia team studied more than 600 patients with and without prostate cancer, to check if bugs in urine might be associated with the disease.

3. How might this research improve on the current checks for prostate cancer?
Current checks can't always predict which cancers are dangerous but this new research identified five bacteria that were linked to aggressive prostate cancer cases.

4. True or false? Some prostate cancers grow too slowly to ever cause any problems.
True. Prostate cancers are not always life-threatening. Some grow too slowly to ever cause any problems.