GLOSSARY
- ADJUVANT THERAPY—a treatment
method used in addition to the primary surgical
therapy, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and
hormone therapy are often used as adjuvants to
surgery.
- ANESTHESIA—a procedure in
which a patient receives medications that block
out pain. May be general or local.
- ASPIRATION—withdrawal of
fluid from a cyst with a hypodermic needle.
- BENIGN TUMOR—a growth that is
not a cancer and does not spread to other parts
of the body.
- BIOPSY—the removal and
microscopic examination of tissue for diagnosis.
- BREAST IMPLANT—a round or
teardrop-shaped sac inserted in the body to
restore a breast form.
- CANCER—a general term for
more than 100 diseases characterized by
uncontrolled, abnormal growth of cells that can
invade and destroy healthy tissues.
- CHEMOTHERAPY—treatment with
anticancer drugs.
- HORMONES—substances made by
the body that regulate the activity of certain
cells or organs. They are largely responsible for
sexual function and the aspects of appearance
(such as facial hair) that distinguish the sexes.
- LUMP—any kind of mass in the
breast or elsewhere in the body.
- LYMPHEDEMA—swelling of the
arm on the mastectomy or axillary dissection side
caused by malfunctioning lymphatic drainage.
- LYMPH NODES—parts of the
lymphatic system that remove wastes from body
tissues and carry fluids that help the body fight
infection.
- MALIGNANT—cancerous
- MAMMOGRAPHY—a diagnostic form
of X-ray of the breast. It is designed to show
tumors in the breast before they can be felt.
- MASTECTOMY—surgical removal
of the breast.
- METASTASIS—the spread of a
cancer from one part of the body to another;
cells in the new cancer are the same cell type as
the original cancer.
- ONCOLOGIST—a doctor who is a
specialist in the treatment of cancers.
- PALPATION—examining with the
hand
- PATHOLOGIST—a doctor
specially trained to examine cells and tissues to
find changes caused by disease
- PROSTHESIS—an artificial
breast form.
- RADIATION ONCOLOGIST—a doctor
who specializes in using radiation to treat
cancer.
- RADIATION THERAPY—the use of
high-energy penetrating rays to treat disease;
sources of radiation include X-ray, cobalt, and
radium.
- RADIOLOGIST—a physician with
special training in reading diagnostic X-rays.
- RECURRENCE—reappearance of
cancer at the same site (local), near the initial
site (regional), or in other areas of the body
(metastatic)
- TUMOR—an abnormal mass of
tissue that results from excessive cell division
and performs no useful body function; tumors are
either benign or malignant.
- X-RAY—a type of radiation
that can be used at low levels to diagnose
disease, or in its high-energy form, to treat
cancer.
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