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Cancer Glossary

Acute:	Having a short and relatively severe course.
Adjuvant chemotherapy:	The use of drugs in addition to surgery or radiation to treat cancer.
Anemia:	A condition characterized primarily by an abnormally low number of red blood cells; symptoms include shortness of breath, lack of energy and fatigue.
Antibody:	A protein produced by a plasma cell in the lymphatic system or bone marrow.
Alopecia:	The loss of hair from the body or scalp.
Antiemetic:	A medicine to prevent or relieve nausea or vomiting.
Benign:	Used to describe a tumor that is neither cancerous nor capable of invading local tissue; for example, some types of moles or warts.
Benign tumor:	Non-cancerous growth that does not spread to other>parts of the body.
Biological Therapy:	Use of biological (substances produced by our own cells) or biological response modifiers in the treatment of cancer.
Biopsy:	Removal and microscopic examination of a sample of tissue to see if cancer cells are present.
Blood Count:	A measurement of the number of red cells, white cells, and platelets in a sample of blood.
Bone marrow:	The inner, spongy tissue of a bone where red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets are formed.
Brachytherapy:	Also known as internal radiation therapy, brachytherapy is a type of radiation therapy in which radioactive materials sealed in fine hollow tubes, seeds or wires is directly placed into or near a tumor.
Cancer:	A general term for more than 100 diseases that have uncontrolled, abnormal growth of cells that can invade and destroy healthy tissue.
Carcinogen:	Any cancer-causing substance or agent.
Carcinoma in situ:	Cancer that involves only the top layers without invading deeper tissue.
Carcinoma:	Cancer that arises in the epithelial cells that cover external and internal body surfaces.
CAT Scan:	Computerized Axial Tomography; a radiographic procedural x-ray plot the location, size and shape of tumors inaccessible to direct visualization.
Chemotherapy:	The treatment of malignancies and other diseases with chemical agents; use of cytotoxic chemicals to destroy rapidly-dividing cancer cells throughout the body.
Clinical Trial:	In cancer research a trial generally refers to the evaluation of treatment methods such as surgery, drugs or radiation. This study may also include methods of prevention; detection or diagnosis.
Combination Chemotherapy:	The use of several drugs at the same time, or in a particular order, to treat cancer.
Combination Therapy:	The use of two or more modes of treatment -- surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy -- in conjunction, alternately or together, to achieve optimum results against cancer.
Complete Response:	The disappearance of all malignant disease that can be clinically detected.
Disease-free interval:	The interval between a complete disappearance of the cancer (complete response) and the time of relapse.
Dosimetrist:	A person who plans and calculates the proper radiation dose for treatment.
Dysplasia:	Abnormal cervical cells that are not cancer.
External radiation:	Therapy that uses a machine located outside of the body to aim high-energy rays at cancer cells.
Gray:	A measurement of absorbed radiation dose; 1 gray =100 rads
Hematuria:	Any condition in which the urine contains blood or red blood cells.
Hormone:	A chemical product from the endocrine glands. When secreted into the body fluids, it affects the other organs.
Iatrogenic myelosuppression:	Inhibition of blood cell production, usually caused by medical treatment, such as cancer chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

Immunotherapy:	Treatment that is directed at producing immunity or resistance to a disease or condition.
Implant:	A small container of radioactive material placed in or near a cancer.
Infusion:	The process of putting fluids into a vein by letting them drip slowly.
Injection:	The use of a syringe to “push” fluids into the boyd; often called a “shot.”
Interstitial radiation:	A type of therapy in which radioactive substances are implanted into or close to the area needing treatment.
Intraoperative radiation:	A type of external radiation used to deliver a large dose of radiation therapy to the tumor bed and surrounding tissue at the tie of surgery.
Intravenous:	Into the vein, anticancer drugs are often given by IV injection or infusion.
Laser:	A powerful beam of light that can develop intense heat when focused at close range. Used in some surgical procedures.
Malignant:	Used to describe a tumor made up of cancerous cells
Metastasis:	The spread of cells from a primary tumor to a distant site usually transported via the blood or lymphatic system.
MRI:	A magnetic field study. A non-invasive diagnostic scanning technique that provides valuable information about the body's biochemistry.
Mutagen:	A chemical or physical agent that induces permanent, transmissible genetic damage.
Myelosuppression:	Suppression of bone marrow activity, with resulting decrease in production of blood cells, especially granulocytes as platelets, a common side effect of anti-cancer drugs.
Oncologist:	A physician trained to treat patients who have cancer.
Oncology:	Study, science or treatment of neoplasms and tumors.
Palliative therapy:	A treatment that may relieve symptoms without curing the disease.
Rad:	Short form for “radiation absorbed dose”; a measurement of the amount of radiation absorbed by tissues (100 rads = 1 gray).
Radiation therapist:	A person with special training who runs the equipment that delivers the radiation. Sometimes called a “radiation technologists.”
Radiation:	Energy carried by waves or a stream of particles.
Regression:	Shrinkage or abatement of cancer growth.
Remission:	Reduction of a clinically-detectable disease for as long as possible, even though the cancer may not have been eliminated.
Shunt:	A device used to establish an artificial passage by which body fluid is diverted from one circulatory path to another.
Simulation:	A precoess involving specian X-ray pictures that are used to plan radiation treatment so that the area to be treated is precisely located and marked before treatment.
Staging:	The process of learning whether cancer has spread from its original site to another area in the body.
Stomatitis:	Sores in mouth.
Survival:	Usually expressed as the ration of those who survive a disease per number of persons diagnosed with the disease in a given amount of time.
Synergism:	Cooperative effects of two agents giving a total effect greater than the sum of the two agents taken independently.
Teletherapy:	Treatment in which the radiation source is at a distance from the body. Linear accelerators and cobalt machines are used in teletherapy.
Vascular Access Device:	A tube or system of drug delivery that is surgically placed into a large vein in the chest or arm so that chemotherapy can be given easily.