Outreach genres
Information leaflet
Receiver
Cancer patient
Subject
Breast cancer
Specialty
Oncology
Source Text in English
The female hormone, oestrogen, promotes tumour growth. Anti-oestrogen treatments such
as tamoxifen block the growth-promoting effects of oestrogen and can be used as both
post-surgery treatment or for women with breast cancer that has spread.
Target Text in Spanish
Los estrógenos (hormonas femeninas) fomentan el crecimiento del tumor. Los antiestrógenos como el tamoxifeno, que bloquean los efectos protumorales de los estrógenos, se utilizan como tratamiento posquirúrgico o en las pacientes con cáncer de mama diseminado.
Conceptual understanding
Neglecting the comprehension phase may lead to word-sense translation errors. In the segment “growth-promoting effects of oestrogen” there’s a potential for misinterpreting that treatment presumably blocks the effects that promote oestrogen growth. However, the “growth” caused by the effects of oestrogen refers to the tumour.
Terminological transparency
There are times when the conciseness of some specialised terms may be preferable to an explicative translation. A key requirement in an outreach text is to assure term intelligibility for the receiver. In this case, the meaning of “protumoral” is crystal clear even for the non-expert Spanish-speaking reader.
Intention and gender markers
Since 99% of people diagnosed with breast cancer are women, the author deliberately uses the term “women”. A translation faithful to the sender’s intention must be narrated in feminine and be explicitly addressed to “las pacientes” (female patients), women who suffer from this type of cancer and receive medical care.