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A disease in which abnormal cells divide uncontrollably and destroy body tissue. @shutterstock
The news that you are suffering from cancer is already difficult to come to terms to. The situation may seem even more difficult when you don't understand the lingo of your oncologist. It takes a while to process the unfamiliar cancer jargons thrown at you. Unfamiliar and incomplete knowledge about cancer and its related symptoms can end up scaring you even more. Moreover, if you are familiar with the words associated with this disease, then it becomes easier for you to work together with your doctor to fight the condition. Here, we help you do that.
Adjuvant Therapy:
It refers to the treatment that you take along with your main treatment to reduce or stop the chances of cancer from coming back.
Angiogenesis Inhibitors:
These are specially designed drugs that stop the formation of new blood vessels and prevent blood flow to the cancerous tumour. This drug may not kill the tumour but can stop cancer from spreading to other body parts.
Antiemetic:
This is a medicine that helps to prevent vomiting and queasiness, which are the common side effects of some cancer treatments.
Allogenic stem cell transplant:
A genetically matched stem cell donor donates stem cells to the cancer patient. Mostly such a donor is the patient s sibling who has the same tissue type. The donor s healthy stem cells are used to replace the patient's unhealthy stem cells. High doses of chemotherapy and radiation are used in the process.
Biological Therapy:
It is an umbrella term for treatment modalities like immunotherapy, gene therapy, etc. In biological therapy treatments are carried out by using products made out of living sources, such as human or animal cells or a microorganism. While some some of these treatments attack particular cancer cells, others affect your immune system (improving it or making it less active) or reduce cancer side effects.
Biomarker:
Biomarkers or tumour markers refer to certain substances in your blood, other body fluids, or tissues that are identified through a blood test. They are usually made of cancer cells. They can help your doctor suggest the best treatment for you, by revealing how your body is responding to a particular treatment or if cancer has spread or come back.
Biopsy:
This is a diagnostic process where a small sample of your tissue is removed and sent to the laboratory for testing. It is normally used to diagnose cancer. Your doctor might use a needle, or a thin, flexible tube designed to carry out the procedure. It usually hurts very little since the affected area is numbed in advance.
BI-RADS 4
BI-RADS or Breast Imaging Report and Data System is a diagnostic method used to describe the findings of mammograph results. Mammograph results are categorized as BI-RADS 0-6. These grades indicate low to high susceptibility to cancer. If someone's tumour is graded as BI-RADS 4A, then the radiologist suggests a biopsy.
BRCA1 and BRCA2:
These are two genes, which, when mutated, increase the risk of breast, prostate, and ovarian cancers.
Chemotherapy:
It is a treatment that uses cytotoxic drugs to destroy cancer cells. Chemotherapy is given intravenously (in the vein), orally (by mouth), and by other routes of administration to destroy or slow the growth of cancer cells.
Carcinoma:
It refers to the type of cancer that originates in skin cells or tissue lining organs such as liver or kidneys. This type of cancer includes basal and squamous cell carcinoma (skin cancers), renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer), etc.
Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML):
This cancer is characterized by uncontrolled growth of myeloid cells in the bone marrow and their accumulation in the blood.
Carcinogen:
These are substances that increase the chances of developing cancer such as tobacco smoke, ultraviolet sunlight, asbestos, etc.
Dysplasia:
These are abnormal cells in a tissue that grow before the full-blown development of cancer. Usually, this tissue is removed as a preventive measure.
Grade:
Grade describes how the tumour looks under a microscope. This gives an idea of how quickly the tumour may grow, spread and helps the doctor to plan your treatment. Low grade means the cells have changes that show they are growing slowly. High- grade tumours tend to spread more quickly.
Hormone therapy:
Hormone or endocrine therapy is used to treat cancers that rely on hormones to grow, such as breast and prostate cancer. It utilizes agents that block the body s ability to make hormones or interfere with hormone functionality.
HPV:
HPV or Human papillomavirus is a virus acquired through the skin to skin sexual contact. It can result in genital warts and cancers of the cervix, vulva, penis, anus, mouth, and throat. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection.
Immunotherapy:
This form of treatment improves your immune system to help fight cancer. Immunotherapy attacks cancer directly or stimulates your immune system's ability to destroy it. It includes checkpoint inhibitors (PD-1 and PDL-1 inhibitors), CAR T therapy, and cancer vaccines.
Lymph Nodes:
Lymph nodes refer to small bean-shaped organs that are parts of your lymphatic system. Lymph nodes under the arm, known as the axillary nodes, drain fluid from the chest and arm. Some lymph nodes are removed during breast surgery to determine the stage of cancer.
Metastasis:
Metastasis refers to the spread of cancer from where it began to another part of the body. Cancer cells can break away from the primary tumour and travel through the blood or the lymphatic system to the lymph nodes, brain, lungs, bones, liver, or other organs.
Neoadjuvant therapy:
Neoadjuvant therapy refers to the treatment given before the main treatment of cancer. It may include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or hormone therapy used prior to a surgery to shrink a tumour so it is easier to remove.
Stage I cancer:
Stage I cancer means that the cancer cells are localised or present in only one area.
Stage II cancer:
Stage II cancer means that the cancer is growing in size. Depending upon the type of cancer, stage II cancer may spread to the nearby lymph nodes. Stage II cancers are still treatable.
Stage III cancer:
Cancer in Stage III is larger in size in comparison to stage II and has spread beyond the originating region of the tumour. In most cases, the cancer is found to have invaded nearby lymph nodes and muscles. Though it is an advanced stage, successful treatment options are available.
Stage IV cancer:
Once cancer grows to proceed to the 4th stage, it is called terminal cancer. The cancer has now spread to other parts of the body. It is the last stage.