cancer

Word family

1 MI[countableC, uncountableU] a very serious disease in which cells in one part of the body start to grow in a way that is not normal 癌（症） → tumour

A lot of cancers can now be treated successfully.

现在许多癌症可以治愈。

lung/breast/stomach etc cancer

Smoking causes lung cancer.

吸烟会导致肺癌。

She was told last year that she had cancer.

去年她得知自己患了癌症。

He died of cancer last month.

上个月他死于癌症。

cancer of

cancer of the womb

子宫癌

a new treatment which effectively kills cancer cells

一种能有效杀死癌细胞的新疗法

2 [countableC] an evil influence that affects a lot of people and is difficult to stop 弊病，社会恶习

Drug abuse is the cancer of our society.

吸毒是我们社会的毒瘤。

—cancerous adjectiveadj

a cancerous growth

癌性赘生物

cancerous cells

癌细胞

Examples from the Corpus

cancer• cancer of the liver• The mayor has called drug abuse "a cancer on our society."• An extra tablespoon sprinkled over the breakfast cereal can help control irritable bowel syndrome, piles, appendicitis and bowel cancer.• Childhood cancers are diffuse, that is, they affect the whole body, so systematic treatment is the rule.• What was your reaction when you were first told you had cancer?• lung cancer• And his wife Marion, 37, has had a major cancer op.• He died of cancer at the age of 63.• Nowhere in film had she seen images of people outliving cancer.• The authors indicate therefore that excesses of prostatic cancer in industrial workforces are unlikely to be due to external radiation.• They knew all about the mills, about the cancer.

cancer cells• Without blood, cancer cells starve.• Differences in the glycosylation of cell surface components of colorectal cancer cells have been previously shown.• The virus proved highly selective in killing several lines of human cancer cells in laboratory cell cultures.• The third works by making cancer cells susceptible to laser light which can be used to destroy them.• Happened to notice a bunch of cancer cells.• Neoprobe, a biotechnology company, has developed a technology that makes it easier for surgeons to target only cancer cells.• Paclitaxel prevents cancer cells by binding to cell components called microtubules.• Was that due to decreased amounts of cholesterol in the cancer cells?