To many, cancer is already complicated enough as it is, and suddenly coming across a complete set of new terms isn’t all that helpful. Here are a few common phrases, which are widely used in this area, explained using simpler expressions.
Cancer: A term for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control and can invade nearby tissues.
Oncologist: Oncology is the study of cancer. A doctor who treats cancer and provides medical care for a person diagnosed with cancer is an oncologist. The five main types of oncologists are medical, surgical, radiation, gynecologic, and pediatric oncologists
Case Manager: A registered nurse who has special training in how to plan, manage, and evaluate all aspects of patient care, especially for patients who get treatment over a long time.
Clinical Trials: Clinical trials are studies of new drugs, procedures and other treatments in people.
Precancerous cells: Abnormal cells that could undergo changes and turn into cancer cells as time goes by.
Cohorts: A group of individuals who share a common experience, exposure, or trait and who are under observation in a research study.
In-situ cancer: A condition in which abnormal cells that look like cancer cells under a microscope are found only in the place where they first formed and haven't spread to nearby tissues. Also known as non-invasive cancer.
Invasive cancer: Cancer that has broken out of the layer of cells where it began and has the potential to spread to the lymph nodes and other areas of the body. Also known as infiltrating cancer.
Biopsy: The removal of cells or tissues for examination by a pathologist. The pathologist may study the tissue under a microscope or perform other tests on it.
Imaging Test: A type of test that makes detailed pictures of areas inside the body. Imaging tests use different forms of energy, such as x-rays (high-energy radiation), ultrasound (high-energy sound waves), radio waves, and radioactive substances.
Disease Free Survival (DFS): The length of time after primary treatment for a cancer ends that the patient survives without any signs or symptoms of that cancer.
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy: This type of chemotherapy is delivered before surgery with the goal of shrinking a tumor or stopping the spread of cancer to make surgery less invasive and more effective.
Treatment vs control groups: In studies, the treatment group (also called the experimental group) receives the treatment whose effect the researcher is interested in. The control group receives either no treatment, a standard treatment whose effect is already known, or a placebo (a fake treatment). Comparing both groups helps researchers evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the treatment.
Benign Tumor: An abnormal but noncancerous collection of cells.
Cure: This term is sometimes used when a person's cancer has not returned for at least five years after treatment. However, the concept of “cure” is difficult to apply to cancer because undetected cancer cells can sometimes remain in the body after treatment, causing the cancer to return later, called a recurrence. Recurrence after five years is still possible.
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