Aggressive Cancer Cells:
Cells that are fast-growing and have a tendency to spread beyond the area where they started.
Cells that are fast-growing and have a tendency to spread beyond the area where they started.
Anesthesia:
Anesthesia is often used in breast cancer surgery. Medication or treatment that makes you lose feeling or awareness. Local anesthesia causes loss of feeling in a part of the body. General anesthesia puts you to sleep.
Asymptomatic:
Having no signs or symptoms of disease. For example, an asymptomatic lump has no associated pain, swelling, or bleeding.
Axila:
The underarm or under pit.
Axillary Lymph Nodes:
Lymph nodes found in the armpit area. They filter the lymph fluid that drains from the breast through the lymph vessels and goes back to the heart.
Biomarkers:
These substances are normally present in small amounts in the blood or other tissues. Cancer cells can sometimes make these substances. When the amount of these substances rises above normal, cancer might be present in the body. Examples of biomarkers include CA 125 (ovarian cancer), CA 15-3 and 27-29 (breast cancer), CEA (ovarian, lung, breast, pancreas, and gastrointestinal tract cancers), and PSA (prostate cancer).
Biopsy:
Removing cells or tissues to check under a microscope. There are 3 kinds of biopsy: only a sample of tissue is removed (incisional biopsy or core biopsy); a sample of tissue or fluid is removed with a needle (needle biopsy or fine-needle aspiration); or a whole tumor or lesion is removed (excisional biopsy).
Breast-Conserving Surgery:
An operation that completely removes the breast cancer along with a rim of normal breast tissue around it. Most of the normal breast is saved. There are 3 main ways this surgery is done: lumpectomy, quadrantectomy, and segmental mastectomy.
Cancer:
The name for diseases in which the body's cells become abnormal and divide without control. Cancer cells may invade nearby tissues. And they may spread through the bloodstream and lymphatic system to other parts of the body.
CAT Scan:
A series of detailed pictures of areas inside the body, taken from different angles, created by an x-ray machine linked to a computer.
Cell:
The unit that makes up all of the tissues of the body. All living things are made up of one or more cells.
Chemotherapy:
Treatment with drugs that kill cancer cells or make them less active.
Estrogen:
This is a special type of protein found on some cancer cells. Estrogen attaches to it, and this can cause the cancer cells to grow.
Genetic Markers:
Changes in genes that can be found by a medical test. If these changes are present, they may increase the risk of getting a certain disease.
Grade:
The grade of a tumor depends on: how abnormal the cancer cells look under a microscope, and how fast the cancer cells are growing. The pathology report may describe two different kinds of grade: nuclear grade and histologic grade. Nuclear grade describes the nucleus (headquarters of the cell that contains the DNA). Histologic grade describes what the rest of the cell looks like.
HER1 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 1):
The protein found on the surface of some cells and to which the epidermal growth factor binds, causing the cells to divide. This epidermal growth factor receptor is found at abnormally high levels on the surface of many types of cancer cells, and may be why these cells divide as actively as they do. Also known as EGFR or ErbB1.
HER2 [also called HER2/neu or human epidermal growth factor receptor 2]:
A gene that helps control how cells grow, divide, and repair themselves. It is important in the control of abnormal or defective cells that could become cancerous.
Lumpectomy:
Surgery to remove the cancer and a small amount of normal tissue around it.
Lymph Node:
A rounded mass of lymphatic tissue that is surrounded by a covering of connective tissue. Also known as a lymph gland. Lymph nodes are spread out along lymphatic vessels and contain many lymphocytes, and act as a filter system for the lymphatic fluid (lymph).
Lymph Node Mapping:
The use of dyes and radioactive substances that flow through the lymph vessels and serve to identify and locate lymph nodes that contain cancer cells.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging:
This is a test that looks at areas inside your body. Detailed pictures are made by a magnet linked to a computer. These are read by a radiologist.
Mammogram:
An x-ray picture of the breast.
Mastectomy:
Surgery that removes the entire breast.
Menopause:
The time of life when a woman stops getting her period, or menstruating. This is sometimes called "change of life."
Nonmetastatic:
Cancer that has not spread from the place where it started to other places in the body.
Oncologist:
A doctor who specializes in taking care of people with cancer. Some specialize in one type of cancer treatment. For example, a radiation oncologist treats cancer with radiation, and a medical oncologist treats cancer with medications. Some oncologists also specialize in one kind of cancer. For example, a breast cancer oncologist diagnoses and treats breast cancer.
Prognosis:
How you are expected to do after a disease is diagnosed. It is based on many things, including stage of disease, kind of disease, response to treatment, and your general state of health. It may be presented as a kind of forecast by your healthcare provider.
Radiation Therapy:
The use of high-energy radiation from x-rays, gamma rays, neutrons, and other sources to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation may come from a machine outside the body (external-beam radiation therapy), or it may come from radioactive material placed in the body in the area near cancer cells (internal radiation therapy, implant radiation, or brachytherapy). Systemic radiation therapy uses a radioactive substance, such as a radiolabeled monoclonal antibody, that circulates throughout the body.
Stage:
The range of a cancer, especially whether the disease has spread from the original site to other parts of the body. It is important to know the stage of a disease in order to plan the best treatment.
Tumor:
An abnormal mass of tissue resulting from an overgrowth of cells. It may be benign (not cancerous) or malignant(cancerous).
Ultrasound:
A test that uses sound waves to create images of structures within the body. The pictures appear on a computer screen. They can also be put on film.
Anesthesia is often used in breast cancer surgery. Medication or treatment that makes you lose feeling or awareness. Local anesthesia causes loss of feeling in a part of the body. General anesthesia puts you to sleep.
Asymptomatic:
Having no signs or symptoms of disease. For example, an asymptomatic lump has no associated pain, swelling, or bleeding.
Axila:
The underarm or under pit.
Axillary Lymph Nodes:
Lymph nodes found in the armpit area. They filter the lymph fluid that drains from the breast through the lymph vessels and goes back to the heart.
Biomarkers:
These substances are normally present in small amounts in the blood or other tissues. Cancer cells can sometimes make these substances. When the amount of these substances rises above normal, cancer might be present in the body. Examples of biomarkers include CA 125 (ovarian cancer), CA 15-3 and 27-29 (breast cancer), CEA (ovarian, lung, breast, pancreas, and gastrointestinal tract cancers), and PSA (prostate cancer).
Biopsy:
Removing cells or tissues to check under a microscope. There are 3 kinds of biopsy: only a sample of tissue is removed (incisional biopsy or core biopsy); a sample of tissue or fluid is removed with a needle (needle biopsy or fine-needle aspiration); or a whole tumor or lesion is removed (excisional biopsy).
Breast-Conserving Surgery:
An operation that completely removes the breast cancer along with a rim of normal breast tissue around it. Most of the normal breast is saved. There are 3 main ways this surgery is done: lumpectomy, quadrantectomy, and segmental mastectomy.
Cancer:
The name for diseases in which the body's cells become abnormal and divide without control. Cancer cells may invade nearby tissues. And they may spread through the bloodstream and lymphatic system to other parts of the body.
CAT Scan:
A series of detailed pictures of areas inside the body, taken from different angles, created by an x-ray machine linked to a computer.
Cell:
The unit that makes up all of the tissues of the body. All living things are made up of one or more cells.
Chemotherapy:
Treatment with drugs that kill cancer cells or make them less active.
Estrogen:
This is a special type of protein found on some cancer cells. Estrogen attaches to it, and this can cause the cancer cells to grow.
Genetic Markers:
Changes in genes that can be found by a medical test. If these changes are present, they may increase the risk of getting a certain disease.
Grade:
The grade of a tumor depends on: how abnormal the cancer cells look under a microscope, and how fast the cancer cells are growing. The pathology report may describe two different kinds of grade: nuclear grade and histologic grade. Nuclear grade describes the nucleus (headquarters of the cell that contains the DNA). Histologic grade describes what the rest of the cell looks like.
HER1 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 1):
The protein found on the surface of some cells and to which the epidermal growth factor binds, causing the cells to divide. This epidermal growth factor receptor is found at abnormally high levels on the surface of many types of cancer cells, and may be why these cells divide as actively as they do. Also known as EGFR or ErbB1.
HER2 [also called HER2/neu or human epidermal growth factor receptor 2]:
A gene that helps control how cells grow, divide, and repair themselves. It is important in the control of abnormal or defective cells that could become cancerous.
Lumpectomy:
Surgery to remove the cancer and a small amount of normal tissue around it.
Lymph Node:
A rounded mass of lymphatic tissue that is surrounded by a covering of connective tissue. Also known as a lymph gland. Lymph nodes are spread out along lymphatic vessels and contain many lymphocytes, and act as a filter system for the lymphatic fluid (lymph).
Lymph Node Mapping:
The use of dyes and radioactive substances that flow through the lymph vessels and serve to identify and locate lymph nodes that contain cancer cells.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging:
This is a test that looks at areas inside your body. Detailed pictures are made by a magnet linked to a computer. These are read by a radiologist.
Mammogram:
An x-ray picture of the breast.
Mastectomy:
Surgery that removes the entire breast.
Menopause:
The time of life when a woman stops getting her period, or menstruating. This is sometimes called "change of life."
Nonmetastatic:
Cancer that has not spread from the place where it started to other places in the body.
Oncologist:
A doctor who specializes in taking care of people with cancer. Some specialize in one type of cancer treatment. For example, a radiation oncologist treats cancer with radiation, and a medical oncologist treats cancer with medications. Some oncologists also specialize in one kind of cancer. For example, a breast cancer oncologist diagnoses and treats breast cancer.
Prognosis:
How you are expected to do after a disease is diagnosed. It is based on many things, including stage of disease, kind of disease, response to treatment, and your general state of health. It may be presented as a kind of forecast by your healthcare provider.
Radiation Therapy:
The use of high-energy radiation from x-rays, gamma rays, neutrons, and other sources to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation may come from a machine outside the body (external-beam radiation therapy), or it may come from radioactive material placed in the body in the area near cancer cells (internal radiation therapy, implant radiation, or brachytherapy). Systemic radiation therapy uses a radioactive substance, such as a radiolabeled monoclonal antibody, that circulates throughout the body.
Stage:
The range of a cancer, especially whether the disease has spread from the original site to other parts of the body. It is important to know the stage of a disease in order to plan the best treatment.
Tumor:
An abnormal mass of tissue resulting from an overgrowth of cells. It may be benign (not cancerous) or malignant(cancerous).
Ultrasound:
A test that uses sound waves to create images of structures within the body. The pictures appear on a computer screen. They can also be put on film.