Cancer and Tumor Terms

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.

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

Few cancers offer such a long warning: the polyp stage lasts years, and removing one prevents the cancer that would have followed.

Because a polyp usually takes years to turn malignant, this is one of the few cancers screening can prevent rather than merely find early.

A type of ductal carcinoma in situ (very early-stage breast cancer).

A rare form of lymphoma (cancer that begins in cells of the immune system) in which different types of lymphoma cells occur at the same time.

Lymphoma in which the lymph nodes containing cancer are next to each other.

A non-cancerous growth near the pituitary gland that causes serious trouble through its position rather than by spreading.

CSP is an older abbreviation for a phyllodes tumor, a fibroepithelial breast growth that is usually benign despite its historical name.

Cancer that has spread from the breast to the skin.

A leaf-patterned breast tumor carrying an alarming old name that describes neither its usual behavior nor its true nature.

A type of tumor that begins as a hard nodule and grows slowly.

Because a desmoid tumor tends to grow into nearby structures locally, complete surgical removal can be difficult even though it rarely spreads elsewhere.

A melanoma that breaks its own rules: colorless, scar-like, easily dismissed as harmless, and inclined to creep outward along nerves.

A rare, aggressive cancer that usually affects young males and usually is located in the abdomen.

A type of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (cancer of the immune system) that is usually aggressive (fast-growing).

Cancer that continues to grow or spread.

Refers to cancer that has spread from the original (primary) tumor to distant organs or distant lymph nodes.

Ductal carcinoma is cancer arising from cells lining a duct, most familiar as the most common form of breast cancer.