New Technique Promises Earlier Cancer Detection A new technique could revolutionize the early detection of cancer, giving sufferers a greater chance of beating the disease, American scientists said. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have devised a novel method of(51)changes in the nucleus of cells in the earliest stages of the disease. 'More than 85 percent of all cancers originate in the epithelium (上皮) that lines the internal surfaces of organs(52)the body. Although these are treatable(53)they are diagnosed in one of the preventable stages, early body damages are almost(54)to detect,' said scientist Feld. 'We present a new optical-probe (光学探子) technique based on light-scattering spectroscopy (分光镜检查) that is able(55)detect pre-cancerous and early cancerous cells in cell-rich epithelia,' he added in a statement. The new technique relies on the fact(56)cell nuclei change in the early stages of cancer and the differences scatter light in a characteristic way. Until now the changes were only detectable(57)a biopsy (活检) was taken, the scientists said. The new technique,(58)in the science journal Nature, can be used in conjunction with a routine cancer screening and surveillance technique which uses an endoscope (内窥镜)--a flexible optical probe(59)with cameras which is inserted into a cavity in the body--to check(60)cancers. The scientists said they(61)their new technique in four different organs during routine endoscopic cancer screening. The tip of the optical probe was brought into contact with the tissue to be tested and the scattering of light was recorded without the need for any tissue to be(62), the scientists said. 'Our results show that light-scattering spectroscopy has the potential to detect pre-cancerous body damages and pre-invasive cancers throughout the body. This technique should(63)improve the efficiency of cancer screening and surveillance,' the scientists said. Cancer is one of the biggest(64)in industrialized countries.(65)to figures from the World Health Organization, 10 million people were diagnosed with the disease worldwide in 1997 and six million died.