Cancer and Oncology Terms

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

Refers to a new primary cancer in a person with a history of cancer.

Surgery performed after primary treatment to determine whether tumor cells remain.

A term that is used to describe either a new primary cancer or cancer that has spread from the place in which it started to other parts of the body.

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

The removal of cancer as well as some of the breast tissue around the tumor and the lining over the chest muscles below the tumor.

A substance that has been studied in the treatment of cancer.

The slower moving of the two main testicular germ cell tumors, and one of the most curable cancers known.

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

A thick, scaly patch of skin that may become cancer.

The node a surgeon samples instead of clearing a whole basin, chosen not for being nearest but for being first in line.

Removal and examination of the sentinel node(s) (the first lymph node(s) to which cancer cells are likely to spread from a primary tumor).

The use of dyes and radioactive substances to identify the first lymph node to which cancer is likely to spread from the primary tumor.

A substance that is being studied as a treatment for cancer.

A rare type of ovarian tumor in which the tumor cells secrete a male sex hormone.

A blood test that measures the amount of substances called tumor markers (or biomarkers).

A type of breast imaging test that is used to detect cancer cells in the breasts of some women who have had abnormal mammograms, or who have dense breast tissue.

An imaging test used to find overactive parathyroid glands (four pea-sized glands found on the thyroid) and breast cancer cells, and to diagnose heart disease.

A rare type of cancer that forms in the tissues that support the ovaries or testes.

A rare type of cancer that forms in the tissues that support the ovaries or testes.