早期诊断、早期治疗是提高乳腺癌患者生存率最重要的手段。现在发现了一种新工具，可以及早诊断，挽救更多人的性命。
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide.
乳腺癌是全世界女性最常见的癌症。
Early discovery and treatment can save lives.
早期发现、尽早治疗可以挽救性命。
Scientists are working new ways to recognize breast cancer while at the same time studying existing methods of identification to find out what is best.
科学家们正在设法寻找筛查乳腺癌的新办法，同时也在研究现有的筛查方式，以确认哪种方法最有效。
Take mammograms, for example. During the test, a technician takes an X-ray picture of a woman’s breast as it is pressed between two glass plates. A radiologist then examines the image for signs of cancer.
以乳房X光检查为例。在检查过程中，技师会摄下女性乳房的X光片，然后由放射科医生检查X光片看是否患有癌症。
Mammograms are the best tools available for recognizing the disease. The number of breast cancer deaths has fallen by 30 percent in the United States since doctors began offering mammography in the 1970s. The reason: the chances of beating cancer are higher when the disease is found early.
乳房X光检查是筛查乳腺癌的最佳工具。自从上世纪70年代医生开始提供乳房X光检查以来，美国乳腺癌死亡人数已经下降了30%。这是因为早期发现癌症的治愈几率更高。
Yet mammograms are not perfect. A mammogram can look normal even when cancer is present. It can also look abnormal, or unusual, when cancer is not present.
然而乳房X光检查并不完美。即使患有癌症，X光片可能也会显示正常。而没有患乳腺癌，它可能也会显示异常。
Traditional mammograms are two dimensional (2-D). They show length and width. But for the 40 to 50 percent of women with dense breasts, it is difficult for radiologists to see cancer on 2-D images.
传统的乳房X光检查是二维的，它们会显示长度和宽度。但是对于40%到50%致密型乳腺的女性来说，放射科医生很难在二维图像上发现癌症。
Three-dimensional mammograms provide a more detailed look. So women with dense breasts may get better results from a 3-D mammogram, said Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society.
三维乳房X光检查提供了更详细的外观影像。所以致密型乳腺的女性通过三维乳房X光检查可能会获得更好的效果，美国癌症学会的奥蒂斯.布劳利表示。
"It might find disease that we need to find that two-dimensional does not," Brawley said. He added that 3-D testing costs more and involves higher levels of radiation. It also is not 100 % perfect, he said.
布劳利说：“它可能会帮助我们发现二维方式发现不了的疾病。”他补充说，三维乳房X光检查成本更高，辐射水平也更高。这种方式也不是绝对完美的。
Cost aside, one study involving 13 U.S. hospitals showed that 3-D mammograms recognized an additional 40 percent of invasive cancers.
除此之外，一项涉及美国13家医院的研究表明，三维乳房X光检查额外确诊了40%的浸润性癌症。
For better results, a woman could have a whole-breast ultrasound. This test requires the patient to lie on her back as the ultrasound device slowly moves back and forth. The exam captures between 3,000 and 5,000 images of the breast.
为了获得更好的检查效果，女性可以进行乳房整体超声检查。这种检查要求病人仰躺，然后超声装置来回缓慢移动。这种检查会拍摄三千到五千张乳房的图像。
Megha Garg is the director of the breast-imaging program at the University of Missouri cancer center. She says the whole-breast ultrasound "helps detect additional breast cancers in females who have dense breasts."
梅加.加格是密苏里大学癌症中心乳腺成像项目的主任。她说，乳腺整体超声检查“帮助致密型乳腺女性检查出了更多的乳腺癌。”
The ultrasound doesn’t use radiation, so it is less risky than a mammogram. But Garg says the traditional mammogram remains a helpful tool because it is very effective.
这种超声检查不使用辐射，所以比X光检查风险更低。但是加格表示，传统X光检查仍然是一个有用的工具，因为它非常有效。
Researchers are studying which method is best at detecting cancer.
研究人员正在研究哪种方法最适合检查癌症。
North America, Western Europe and Australia have the highest rates of breast cancer. Yet the World Health Organization reports that almost 50 percent of the cases and nearly 60 percent of the deaths happen in less-developed countries.
北美、西欧和澳大利亚的乳腺癌发病率最高。然而世界卫生组织报告称，将近50%的病例和近60%的死亡案例都发生在欠发达国家。
With improvements, nearly 400,000 women’s lives could be saved every year.
随着检测手段的进步，每年可以挽救近40万女性的生命。
I’m Susan Shand.
我是苏珊.珊德。
