cancer terms most used

Acute:

A condition or disease that comes on quickly 

but not last long.

Anemia:

A condition in which the body doesn't make enough red blood cells.  Symptoms include looking pale and feeling tired.

Antibody:

Special proteins made by cells of the immune system to help the body fight infection.

Axilliary nodes:

Lymph nodes (also called glands)  found in the armpit.

Benign tumor:

A swelling of growth that is not cancerous and does not spread to any other part of the body.

Biopsy:

A Surgical procedure in which a piece of tissue is removed from the body. The tissue is looked at under a microscope to see if cancer cells are present or to make  other diagnoses.

Blood counts:

The number of white blood cells, red blood cells, 

and platelets that are counted in a sample of blood.

Bone Marrow biopsy:

A procedure in which a needle is inserted into the hipbone, a small piece of bone marrow is removed, and then looked at under a microscope.

Bone  Scan:

A scan that looks specifically at the bones to see if cancer is present, if there is damage, or if bones are healing.

Cancer in situ:

Very early cancer that has not spread to nearby tissue.

Chemotherapy:

A type of treatment that uses drugs to kill fast-growing cancer cells

Adjuvant chemotherapy is a type of treatment aimed at cancer cells that cannot be detected, but are though to be there because of the stage or type of the  cancer. This usually is given after surgery.

Cervical Cancer

Is a type of cancer that originates from  cells in the uterus.

Clinical trial:

A controlled experiment to test how will a  new drug or group of drugs work in treating a specific disease.

Endoscopy:

A test in which a thin, flexible , lighted tub is inserted through the mouth into the esophagus  (food pipe) so the doctor cvan see inside the esphagus and stomach.

Fine needle aspiration:

A test in which a small needle is inserted and a sample of tissue or fluid is present. Also  call needle biopsy.

Hematologist:

A doctor who treats problems and diseases of blood and hone marrow.

Implanted port:

A quarter sized disc that is placed under the skin. It allows a doctor or nurse to gie medications or fluids and to draw blood without having to "stick" the person's vein each time.

Lumpectomy:

Surgery to remove a breast lump and some tissue around it.  Also called a segmental mastectomy.

Lymphedema:

Swelling in the area drained by lymph nodes that have been removed or where they are blocked.

Lymph nodes:

Hundreds of small, bean shaped organs  (sometimes called glands) located throughout specific areas of the body in the symphatic system. They act as filters to collect and destroy bacteria. Cancer cells that may be moving through the lymphatic system can get trapped in the lymph  nodes.

Malignant:

Cancerous. A growth that tends to invade and destroy nearby tissues and spread to other parts of the body.

Mammogram:

A special x-ray taken of the breast to detect abnormal growth.

Metastasize:

The spread of a cancer from the place it started to the lymph nodes and /or other organs in the body.

Neutropenia:

A decrease in the number of the infection-fighting white blood cells  (called neutrophils).

Neutropenic fever:

A rise in the body temperature over 101 degrees F that occurs because the body does not have enougth white blood cells to fight its own bacteria or an infection:

Oncologist:

A doctor with special training in the treatment of cancer.

Pathology:

The process of looking at samples of tissue and fluids from the body under a microscope to detect cancer cells, or see how cancer cells have hanged.  A doctor who does this is called a pathologist.

Polyp:

A bulging of the mucous membrane that has grown out of shape. Polyps can be found in the bowel, bladder, throat and nose.

Prognosis:

A prediction of how a disese is expected to progress over time.

Radiation therapy:

A form of cancer treatment that uses strong x-rays to damage or kill.