The March on Malignancy

For millennia, humans have met their demise through violence, accidents and a fearsome array of infectious diseases.
millennia: 黄金時代、千年間、千年祭、至福千年、千年王国
demise: 崩御、逝去(せいきょ)、死去、(企業などの)消滅、活動停止

In 1900, the leading causes of death in the United States were pneumonia, influenza and tuberculosis.
pneumonia: 肺炎
tuberculosis: 結核、肺結核

A century later, they are heart disease and cancer.

Antibiotics and other modern medicines have reduced the lethality of the microbial illnesses that killed our ancestors.

Still, we all die of something.

So we now find lying in wait for us scores of disorders characterized by the uncontrolled growth of cells.
characterize: 特徴を述べる、性格を描写する、(…と)みなす、(…に)特徴を与える、(…の)特色となる、(…を)特徴づける

More than forty years since 'war' was declared on cancer, malignancy still casts a shadow over humanity: in 2012, 15% of deaths worldwide were attributable to cancer.
declared: 宣言した、公然の、申告した
malignancy: 強い悪意、敵意、(病気の)悪性、悪性腫瘍(しゆよう)
cast a shadow: 影がさす、影が差す、影が射す、影を落とす、影を落とす

The toll will almost certainly rise in the decades ahead, especially as developing countries adopt Western diets and lifestyles.

This Outlook presents an overview of the current battles against cancer.

We examine advances in personalized treatments, nanodevices that will precisely deliver drugs to tumours and the radical changes that may be needed in clinical research as a result.
nanodevice: ナノ素子
precisely: 正確に、精密に、的確に、まさにそのとおり、きちょうめんに

We explain how the terabytes of data produced by cancer research could be too much of a good thing until we figure out better ways to manage the information.

Clues to potential therapies may lie in an animal that is close to cancer-free, but prevention seems daunting given how much of the environment is potentially carcinogenic.
cancer-free: 【形】《医》がんのない
prevention: 防止、予防
daunting: dauntの現在分詞。ひるませる、 鋭気をくじく
carcinogenic: 発癌(がん)性の

And even as scientists begin to solve the great puzzles concerning cancer, three fundamental mysteries are proving tough to crack.
even as: ちょうど…の時に
crack: 裂け目、割れ目、(陶器・ガラス器などの)ひび(割れ)、きず、(ささいな)欠点、欠陥、(ドア・窓・板などの)わずかな開き、すき、ちょっと、すこし

To deliver this broad view of cancer widely, this Outlook is being published in both Nature and Scientific American - a collaboration that we expect to be the first of many.

We are pleased to acknowledge the financial support of Celgene Corporation in producing this Outlook.

Nature has sole responsibility for all editorial content in this special report.

This article is reproduced with permission and was first published on May 28, 2014.

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