Cancer and Oncology Terms

Melanoma that has spread down into the reticular dermis (the thick bottom layer of the dermis).

Melanoma that has spread down into the subcutaneous tissue (tissue beneath the skin).

A system for describing how deep melanoma has spread into the skin.

The most common type of Hodgkin lymphoma, which is a cancer of the immune system.

A rare type of tumor, usually of the female genital tract, in which the insides of the cells look clear when viewed under a microscope.

A description of what the cells look like on a slide, applied to tumors that arise in several unrelated organs.

A soft tissue tumor that begins in a tendon (tough, fibrous, cord-like tissue that connects muscle to bone or to another structure).

A rare type of kidney cancer, in which the inside of the cells look clear when viewed under a microscope.

The failure of a cancer to shrink after treatment.

The stage of cancer (extent of cancer in the body) that is based on tests that are done before surgery.

A method used to determine the stage of cancer (extent of cancer in the body).

Cells that look mature and behave uselessly accumulate for years, which is why a diagnosis often arrives long before any treatment does.

An indolent (slow-growing) cancer in which immature lymphocytes (white blood cells) are found in the blood and bone marrow and/or in the lymph nodes.

A drug used in the treatment of hypercalcemia (abnormally high levels of calcium in the blood) and cancer that has spread to the bone (bone metastases).

The combination that first proved chemotherapy after surgery could stop breast cancer returning, now largely overtaken by newer schedules.

Cancer that has spread from the original (primary) tumor to the central nervous system (CNS).

A type of cancer that arises from a particular type of cell within the brain or spinal cord.

Chemotherapy or radiation therapy given to the central nervous system (CNS) as a preventive treatment.

Chemotherapy or radiation therapy given to the central nervous system (CNS) as a preventive treatment.

A tumor of the central nervous system (CNS), including brain stem glioma, craniopharyngioma, medulloblastoma, and meningioma.