Nine American military officers who worked many years ago at a nuclear missile base have been diagnosed with a rare blood cancer. The Associated Press says military briefing documents suggest the cancer might be linked to the officers' service.
多年前在核导弹基地工作的九名美国军官被诊断出患有罕见的血癌。美联社说，军事简报文件表明癌症可能与军官的服役有关。
 
The cancer is non-Hodgkin lymphoma. One of the officers has died from the disease.
癌症是非霍奇金淋巴瘤。其中一名军官死于这种疾病。
 
The documents were from a meeting led by a top member of the U.S. Space Force, Lieutenant Col. Daniel Sebeck. At the time, he suggested a possible connection between the cancer and the time at the missile base.
这些文件来自美国太空部队高级成员丹尼尔塞贝克中校主持的一次会议。当时，他提出癌症与导弹基地时间之间可能存在联系。
 
Sebeck refused the AP's request for comment about the briefing. He said the information was "predecisional."
塞贝克拒绝了美联社就简报发表评论的请求。他说这些信息是“预先决定的”。
 
The soldiers were members of the United States Air Force. All worked at the Malmstrom Air Force base in the western state of Montana. Some worked as long ago as the 1990s.
这些士兵是美国空军的成员。所有人都在西部蒙大拿州的马尔姆斯特罗姆空军基地工作。有些早在 1990 年代就开始工作了。
 
At the time, Malmstrom had 150 nuclear missile launch structures called silos.
当时，马尔姆斯特罗姆拥有 150 个称为发射井的核导弹发射结构。
 
The soldiers who worked there are known as missileers. They work at the base several days straight. They are there to carry out presidential orders concerning the missiles.
在那里工作的士兵被称为导弹手。他们连续几天在基地工作。他们在那里执行有关导弹的总统命令。
 
At the meeting, Sebeck called the number of military members with cancer "concerning." He also said 455 former missileers are now in the Space Force, including four of those who have cancer.
在会上，塞贝克称患有癌症的军人人数“令人担忧”。他还说，现在有 455 名前导弹发射手在太空部队服役，其中包括四名癌症患者。
 
A spokesperson for the U.S. Air Force told the Associated Press that medical leaders in the military are working to "understand more."
美国空军发言人告诉美联社，军方的医学领导人正在努力“了解更多”。
 
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma strikes about 19 out of 100,000 people in the U.S. each year. That means that nine cancer cases out of only hundreds of former missileers is concerning. In addition, most people diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma are in their 60s. In the case of the military officers, most worked at the base in their 20s and were diagnosed in their 30s and 40s.
在美国，每年 100,000 人中约有 19 人罹患非霍奇金淋巴瘤。这意味着仅数百名前导弹发射手中就有九例癌症病例令人担忧。此外，大多数被诊断患有非霍奇金淋巴瘤的人都在 60 多岁。就军官而言，大多数20多岁在基地工作，30多岁和40多岁被确诊。
 
It is not the first time health concerns have come up for soldiers who worked at Malmstrom. In 2001, an Air Force health group investigated the base after 14 cases of cancer were reported among missileers who worked there. The report that followed said the base was safe and that "sometimes illnesses tend to occur by chance alone."
对于在 Malmstrom 工作的士兵来说，这并不是第一次出现健康问题。2001 年，据报告在该基地工作的导弹人员中有 14 例癌症病例后，一个空军健康小组对该基地进行了调查。随后的报告称该基地是安全的，“有时疾病 往往只是偶然发生的。”
 
The news of the new cancer concern comes at the same time the U.S. military is talking more openly about the hazards soldiers face while serving. For example, President Joe Biden signed a law last August that offered more health services to former soldiers who may have been in contact with dangerous substances in smoke.
新的癌症问题的消息传出之际，美国军方正在更公开地谈论士兵在服役期间面临的危险。例如，乔·拜登总统去年 8 月签署了一项法律，为可能接触过烟雾中危险物质的退伍军人提供更多医疗服务。
 
It is possible 3.5 million people could have health problems from such smoke.
这种烟雾可能会导致 350 万人出现健康问题。
 
Part of the new law said soldiers with health problems would be offered healthcare without having to prove their sickness came from the time they served in the military.
新法律的一部分规定，将向有健康问题的士兵提供医疗保健，而无需证明他们的疾病来自于他们在军队服役期间。
 
When asked about the cancer cases among the soldiers who worked at the missile centers, the Air Force spokesperson said "we are heartbroken for all who have lost loved ones or are currently facing cancer of any kind."
当被问及在导弹中心工作的士兵中的癌症病例时，空军发言人说：“我们为所有失去亲人或目前正面临任何癌症的人感到心碎。”
 
At the same time, however, Sebeck's report noted that missileers should be "screened and tracked for the rest of their lives."
然而，与此同时，塞贝克的报告指出，导弹发射者应该“终生受到筛查和跟踪”。