Cancer and Oncology Terms

Not cancer, but not reassuring either, and what it means depends heavily on which organ the sample came from.

A marker of raised risk in both breasts rather than a lesion that becomes cancer where it sits.

An aggressive cancer of the central nervous system, kidney, or liver that occurs in very young children.

A substance being studied in the treatment of cancer.

A substance found in soybeans that may slow down or stop the spread of cancer.

A cancer cell from an individual's own tumor.

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

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

A substance that is used in cancer research to cause colon tumors in laboratory animals.

An anticancer drug that is able to cross the blood-brain barrier and kill cancer cells in the central nervous system.

An aggressive (fast-growing) type of leukemia (blood cancer) in which too many B-cell lymphoblasts (immature white blood cells) are found in the bone marrow and blood.

An aggressive (fast-growing) type of leukemia (blood cancer) in which too many B-cell lymphoblasts (immature white blood cells) are found in the bone marrow and blood.

B-cell lymphoma is a cancer of infection-fighting B cells that ranges from slow-growing to fast-growing, with outlook depending on the specific subtype.

A protein found on some tumor cells.

A toxic substance, made by bacteria, that can be modified to kill specific tumor cells without harming normal cells.

A substance being studied in the treatment of peripheral neuropathy (pain, numbness, tingling, burning, or weakness in the hands or feet) caused by chemotherapy.

A system used to deliver internal radiation therapy to breast cancer patients after surgery to remove their cancer.

This condition replaces the esophagus's normal lining with a different cell type after long term acid reflux, and carries a modestly increased cancer risk.

Basal cell cancer is the most common skin cancer, growing slowly on sun exposed skin and rarely spreading to distant parts of the body.

Common, local and slow: this skin cancer damages the tissue around it far more often than it travels anywhere else.