Cancer Basics
The extent of disease in the body
What is stage?
The oldest and still most common treatment for most cancers.
What is surgery?
Surgery to remove a small sample of tissue
What is a biopsy?
A type of cancer treatment that stimulates the body to act against cancer cells.
What is immunotherapy?
Also called EBRT, this form of treatment uses sources of radiation located outside of the body.
What is external-beam radiation therapy?
The description of a tumor based on how abnormal the tumor cells and tumor tissue look under a microscope (e.g. well, poorly, or undifferentiated)
What is grade?
A type of cancer treatment that uses drugs to kill cancer cells.
What is chemotherapy?
The primary site of testosterone production
What are the testicles?
Drugs or other substances that interfere with specific molecules involved in cancer cell growth and survival.
What is targeted therapy?
Another name for internal radiation therapy, this type of treatment implants radioactive substances in or close to affected area.
What is brachytherapy?
Therapy given after primary treatment to increase the chance of a cure.
What is adjuvant treatment?
A systemic approach, this type of treatment may involve the surgical removal of certain bodily organs.
What is hormone therapy?
Another term for minimally invasive surgery, this procedure often includes several small incisions.
What is laproscopic surgery?
An experimental anticancer therapy that attempts to enhance the natural cancer-fighting ability of a patient’s T cells. In one form of this therapy, researchers first harvest cytotoxic T cells that have invaded a patient’s tumor. They then identify the cells with the greatest antitumor activity and grow large populations of those cells in a laboratory. The patients are then treated to deplete their immune cells, and the laboratory-grown T cells are infused into the patients.
What is Adoptive Cell Therapy?
A type of radiation that contains enough energy to cause chemical changes in cells and damage DNA.
What is ionizing radiation?
Treatment given for the purpose of symptom relief and improving a patient's quality of life.
What is palliative treatment?
This treatment blocks the growth and spread of cancer by interfering with specific molecules that are involved in the growth of cancer.
What is targeted therapy?
On average, this percentage of all cancers diagnosed today can be cured.
What is 50%?
A complex network of cells, tissues, organs, and the substances they make that helps the body fight infections and other diseases.
What is the immune system?
The process through which doctors may divide the total dose of radiation into separate doses that are larger or smaller than usual. This approach can improve safety and allow normal tissue to heal between treatments.
What is fractionation?
To cure cancer, to keep it from spreading, or to provide palliation.
What are the goals of cancer treatment?
A general term used to describe any drug that uses living organisms, substances derived from living organisms, or laboratory-produced versions of such substances to treat disease.
What is biological therapy?
Examples include the bone marrow, digestive tract, reproductive system, and hair follicles.
What are areas within the body where cells grow and divide rapidly?
This type of targeted therapy keeps new blood vessels from forming.
What are angiogenesis inhibitors or antiangiogenesis agents?
This radiation professional helps the doctor plan and calculate the needed number of treatments.
What is a dosimetrist?