Cancer and Oncology Terms

The commonest cancers in people with pale skin, grouped together by what they are not rather than by what they are.

Having to do with skin cancer that forms in the lower part of the epidermis (the outer layer of the skin) or in squamous cells, but not in melanocytes (skin cells that make pigment).

Cancer that has not spread from the primary site (place where it started) to other places in the body.

A substance that is being studied in the treatment of cancer.

A virus being studied in the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors and other types of cancer.

An evaluation of the size and shape of the nucleus in tumor cells and the percentage of tumor cells that are in the process of dividing or growing.

A drug that may improve the response of cancer cells to chemotherapy.

A substance being studied in the treatment of several types of cancer.

An improvement that can be measured by the health care provider (for example, when a tumor shrinks or there are fewer cancer cells in the blood).

Cancer in which the site of the primary (original) tumor cannot be found.

Ocular melanoma is a rare cancer of the pigment producing cells within the eye, most often arising in the middle layer called the uvea.

A substance that relieves pain and is being studied in the treatment of some types of cancer.

A substance being studied in the treatment of cancer.

A brain tumor that forms from both oligodendrocytes and astrocytes, which are types of glial cells (cells that cover and protect nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord and help them work the way…

A rare, slow-growing tumor that begins in oligodendrocytes (cells that cover and protect nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord).

A brain tumor from the cells that insulate nerve fibers, now identified by a pair of genetic changes rather than by appearance alone.

A drug used in cancer prevention.

A substance being studied in the treatment of cancer.

Rarely a single doctor working alone, an oncologist is usually one voice on a team that meets together to agree a plan for each case.

One word covering hundreds of separate diseases, oncology holds together because the questions asked of every cancer are broadly the same.