Reduced treatment for three kinds of cancer can make life easier for patients without hurting results, doctors reported recently at the world's largest cancer conference.医生们最近在世界上最大的癌症会议上报告说，三种癌症的减少治疗可以使患者的生活更轻松，而又不会损害治疗效果。
The findings are part of a long-term move toward studying whether doing less surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation can help patients live longer and feel better.这些发现是研究减少手术、化疗或放射治疗是否能帮助患者活得更长、感觉更好的长期行动的一部分。
The latest studies involved ovarian and esophageal cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma.这项最新的研究涉及卵巢癌、食道癌以及霍奇金淋巴瘤。
Thirty years ago, cancer research was about doing more, not less.30年前，癌症研究的目标是对其操作更多，而不是更少。
In one example, women with advanced breast cancer were pushed to the edge of death with large doses of chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants.在一个例子中，患有晚期乳腺癌的女性因大剂量化疗和骨髓移植而被推向死亡边缘。
The treatment did not work any better than chemotherapy and patients suffered.这种疗法的效果并不比仅化疗好，而且病人很痛苦。
Now, in an effort to improve cancer care, researchers are asking: "Do we need all that treatment that we have used in the past?"现在，为了改善癌症护理，研究人员提出疑问：“我们还需要过去使用过的所有治疗方法吗？”
"It is a question that should be asked over and over again," said Dr. Tatjana Kolevska of the Kaiser Permanente National Cancer Excellence Program.凯撒国家癌症卓越计划的塔基亚那·科列夫斯卡博士说：“这是一个应该反复问及的问题。”
Kolevska was not involved in the new research.科列夫斯卡没有参与这项新研究。
Often, doing less works because of improved drugs.通常，由于药物的改进，治疗操作会减少。
Dr. William G. Nelson of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine was also not involved in the new research.约翰霍普金斯医学院的威廉·G·纳尔逊博士也没有参与这项新研究。
He said, "The good news is that cancer treatment is not only becoming more effective,他说：“好消息是，癌症治疗不仅变得更加有效，
it's becoming easier to tolerate and associated with less short-term and long-term complications."而且变得更容易忍受，短期和长期并发症也更少。”
The term complications means to make a medical problem worse or to cause new medical problems to appear.并发症这个术语是指使医疗问题恶化或导致新的医疗问题出现。
Studies showing the effects of reduced treatments were discussed recently at an American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago.最近在芝加哥举行的美国临床肿瘤学会会议讨论了表明减少治疗效果的研究。
Here are a few key points:以下是几个要点：
French researchers found that it is safe to avoid removing lymph nodes that appear healthy during surgery for advanced ovarian cancer.法国研究人员发现，在晚期卵巢癌手术期间避免切除看似健康的淋巴结是安全的。
The study compared the results for 379 patients.该研究比较了379名患者的结果。
Half had their lymph nodes removed and half did not.其中一半人切除了淋巴结，另一半则没有切除淋巴结。
After nine years, there was no difference in how long the patients lived.9年后，两组患者的寿命没有差别。
Those with less-extreme surgery had fewer complications, such as the need for blood transfusions.那些接受不那么极端手术的人并发症更少，比如需要输血。
The research was financed by the National Institute of Cancer in France.该研究由法国国家癌症研究所资助。
A German study looked at 438 people with a kind of cancer of the esophagus that can be treated with surgery.德国的一项研究调查了438名食道癌患者，该癌症可以通过手术治疗。
Half received a common treatment plan that included chemotherapy and surgery on the esophagus, the tube that carries food from the throat to the stomach.其中一半患者接受了包括化疗和食道手术在内的常规治疗方案，食道是将食物从喉咙输送到胃的管状物。
Half got another treatment that includes radiation, too.另一半患者还接受了包括放射治疗在内的另一种治疗。
Both techniques are considered standard.这两种技术都被认为是常规技术。
Which one patients get can depends on where they get treatment.患者接受哪种治疗取决于自己在哪里接受治疗。
After three years, 57 percent of those who got chemo and surgery were alive, compared to 51 percent of those who got chemo, surgery and radiation.三年后，接受化疗和手术的患者中有57%还活着，而接受化疗、手术和放射治疗的患者中只有51%还活着。
The German Research Foundation financed the study.德国研究基金会资助了这项研究。
A comparison of two chemotherapy treatments for advanced Hodgkin lymphoma found the gentler treatment was more effective for the blood cancer and caused fewer side effects.一项针对晚期霍奇金淋巴瘤的两种化疗方法的比较发现，较温和的治疗方法对血癌更有效，副作用也更少。
After four years, the gentler chemo kept the disease in control in 94 percent of people, compared to 91 percent of those who had the more powerful treatment.四年后，接受较温和化疗的患者中，该病得到控制的患者有94%，相比之下，接受更强猛治疗的患者中，这一比例为91%。
The trial included 1,482 people in nine countries - Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Australia and New Zealand.这项试验包括来自德国、奥地利、瑞士、荷兰、丹麦、瑞典、挪威、澳大利亚和新西兰这9个国家的1482人。
The study was financed by Takeda Oncology, the maker of one of the drugs used in the gentler chemo that was studied.这项研究由武田肿瘤资助，武田肿瘤是人们所研究的较温和化疗中使用的药物之一的制造商。
