Cancer and Tumor Terms

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

The blood is what sets it apart: the same malignant cells circulate, so it behaves unlike a lymphoma confined to skin.

A highly malignant type of cancer typically found in glandular cells that line the digestive organs.

One label covers several different diseases, and which cell a tumor came from matters far more than the fact that it sits in skin.

An aggressive (fast-growing) cancer that forms in tissues of the lung and can spread to other parts of the body.

A rare cancer that forms in tissues of the small intestine (the part of the digestive tract between the stomach and the large intestine).

An indolent (slow-growing) type of lymphoma in which too many immature lymphocytes (white blood cells) are found mostly in the lymph nodes.

A group of diseases in which the bone marrow does not make enough healthy blood cells.

Myeloma already present in the marrow and visible in the blood, but not yet doing the organ damage that defines the disease needing treatment.

Soft tissue sarcoma is a rare cancer arising in muscle, fat, or connective tissue rather than in bone or organs.

An abnormal mass of tissue that usually does not contain cysts or liquid areas.

A type of cancer that begins in the skin or in tissues that line or cover internal organs and that contains long spindle-shaped cells.

A description of shape rather than a single disease, since many unrelated cancers look this way and shape alone cannot separate them.

Spine cancer describes tumors of the vertebrae or spinal cord, though cancer reaching the spine from elsewhere is far more common than a primary tumor.