BBC: Is prostate cancer over-treated?

In this programme, prostate cancer being over-treated in the UK, according to a charity. Hello, I'm Pippa. 

And I'm Phil. 

In this programme, we look at one big news story and the vocabulary in the headlines that will help you understand it. 

You can find all the vocabulary and headlines from this episode as well as a worksheet on our website bbclearningenglish.com so. 

Let's hear more about this new story. 

The charity Prostate Cancer UK says that the UK is treating too many prostate cancer cases that are unlikely to cause harm. This is because sometimes the cancer grows very slowly. 

According to the charity, around one in four cases could be monitored meaning doctors would check to see if the cancer was progressing instead of treating it, allowing patients to avoid harmful side effects from treatment. 

The charity has criticized current guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, known as NICE.

NICE says it's reviewing the guidance. 

Prostate Cancer UK says that there should be a greater focus on screening, which is widespread testing, so that the illness can be spotted at an earlier stage. 

Okay, let's have our first headline. This one's from LBC, a radion station in the UK. Outdated guidance sees thousands at risk of prostate cancer over treatment. 

That headline again from LBC, a radio station in the UK. Outdated guidance sees thousands at risk of prostate cancer over treatment. 

This headline is about the guidance provided by NICE. The word that we are going to learn is outdated. 

Outdated is an adjective that means something is no longer suitable because it's too old, old-fashioned, or obsolete. In this story, the charity is saying that the guidelines are no longer appropriate. 

We often talk about outdated technology to mean equipment that no longer works well. 

We can also talk about outdated attitudes and apporoaches if the way that people think about things is not appropriate for the present day. 

We've had outdated, not useful anymore. 

For example, we need to replace the outdated machines in our factory. This is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines. Today we're talking about the suggetion that some cancers should be monitored instead of treated. 

As we've heard, the charity Prostate Cancer UK has criticized guidelines from NICE, which it says lead to too many people having treatment that they don't need. 

The charity has pointed out that the guidelines from different organizaitons say different things, and that's what our next headline is about. 

Yes, this headline is from the news section of Greatest Hits Radio in the UK. Swindon researcher raises concerns over prostate cancer treatment contradictions. 

That headline again, Swindon researcher raises concerns over prostate cancer treatment contradictions. And that's from the news section of Greatest Hits Radio. 

This headline is about a researcher who is from Swindon and is head of research for prostate cancer UK. We're going to learn the word contradictions. 

A contraditon is a situation where statements or facts oppose each other. In this case, it's talking about different sets of guidelines for prostate cancer treatment that recommend doing different things. 

We often use the word contradition to say that things don't make sense. A piece of information might be suggesting two things that can't both be true. 

For example, I want my kids to be independant, but I don't let them go anywhere on their own, it's a bit of a contradiction. 

From the noun contradiction, we also get the verb contradict and the adjective contradictory, and they all mean this idea of two facts opposing each other. 

We had contradiction statements or facts that are opposed to each other. 

For example, there was a contradiction between what the witnesses and the defendants said in court. This is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the new headlines. Today we're talking about criticism of guidelines for cancer treatment in the UK. 

Prostate Cancer UK has said that the guidelines around the treatment and monitoring of prostate cancer are out of date and that different official guidelines say different things. 

The charity says this has led to some hospitals creating their own guidelines and acting independently.