tbd
A
Acupuncture
Explanation (in progress)
Adjuvant treatment
Adjuvant treatment is an extra cancer treatment given after a surgery to remove the tumour. It may include chemotherapy, radiotherapy or other cancer treatments. It aims to destroy cancer cells that may still remain in the body after surgery. These cells could cause the cancer to come back or spread to other parts of the body.
Aftercare/ Follow-up care
Explanation (in progress)
Anaemia
Explanation (in progress)
Anaesthesia
Anaesthesia is the use of medicines to prevent you from feeling pain during a medical test or surgery. Depending on the type of anaesthesia, the medicines may make part of your body numb or make you unconscious. This allows doctors to carry out the treatment safely while keeping you as comfortable as possible.Your healthcare team watches you closely throughout the test or surgery.
Anaesthesist
An anaesthetist is a doctor who gives anaesthesia before and during a medical test or surgery. They make sure you do not feel pain and carefully check your breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure throughout the procedure. They also help keep you safe and comfortable while you are under anaesthesia. The role of an anaesthetist can be different in different countries.
Anamnesis
Anamnesis means the checking of a patient´s current health and their medical history. To do this, a doctor asks the patient about their current and past symptoms, about the medicines they are taking, their general well-being, their lifestyle and their family´s medical history.
B
Benign
Benign means not cancerous. Benign masses mostly grow slowly, do not invade the surrounding tissue and do not spread.
Biomarker
Explanation (in progress)
A biomarker is a measurable characteristic of a single tumour or a cancer that affects the whole body. Biomarkers can be identified through various laboratory tests, such as blood or urine tests and biopsies. They provide additional information about the disease, how it is likely to develop, and which treatments are most likely to work. Some biomarkers can also be targeted by treatment.
Biopsy
During a biopsy, doctors take a tissue sample so that they can examine the tissue more closely. To do this, they use a needle to puncture the body or use small forceps to snip out a piece of tissue.
Blinding
Explanation (in progress)
Explanation pending: defined in t12 (draft). Final wording will be copied here after review.
Blood clot
Blood clots are small clumps of blood that stick together. They help stop bleeding when you are injured. Sometimes they can form inside a blood vessel and make it harder for blood to flow normally.
C
Cancer counselling service
support service where trained professionals help people cope with the emotional and practical challenges of cancer: patients, their families or caring relatives. It also provides advice on social and legal issues such as financial support, rehabilitation, and disability benefits. It is usually free of charge.
Cancer survivor
Explanation (in progress)
Explanation pending: defined in t03 (CEB-CCG reviewed, proofread pending). Final wording will be copied here after review.
Certified cancer centres
Explanation (in progress)
Explanation pending: defined in t14 (draft). Final wording will be copied here after review.
Clear margin
Clear margin means that no cancer cells are found in the safety margin around the cancer that was removed during surgery. This suggests that all of the cancer that could be detected was removed. It may reduce the chance of the cancer coming back in the same area.
Compassionate use
Explanation (in progress)
Explanation pending: defined in t12 (draft). Final wording will be copied here after review.
Complete remission
Explanation (in progress)
Compression therapy
Explanation (in progress)
Cryotherapy
Explanation (in progress)
Curative therapy
Explanation (in progress)
A cancer treatment that aims to cure the disease, is called curative therapy.
Coping strategies
thoughts and actions people use to deal with stressful situations. Which strategy works best depends on the situation, the person, and the support around them.
D
DNA
The body’s instruction code inside each cell. It tells the cell how to grow and work.
E
electromyography
Explanation (in progress)
electrotherapy
Explanation (in progress)
Eligibility criteria
Explanation (in progress)
Endoscopy
Endoscopy is a medical test. It allows a doctor to look inside parts of the body using a thin tube with a small camera. Doctors can examine areas such as the stomach, bowels (intestines), or airways (the tubes that carry air to and from the lungs). It may be used to remove cells that could later turn into cancer. It can also help find cancer, take a small tissue sample for testing, or check how far a cancer has spread.
Erectile Dysfunction
Explanation (in progress)
F
Follow-up care / Aftercare
Explanation (in progress)
Follow-up care aims to detect whether the cancer comes back (recurrence), after initial treatment. During follow-up care, health professionals also detect and treat side effects or late effects of the disease or its treatment. They also provide medical and psychosocial support.
Functional training
Explanation (in progress)
G
Good Clinical Practice (GCP)
Explanation (in progress)
H
Helicobacter pylori
Helicobacter pylori is a bacterium that infects the stomach and can cause chronic inflammation of the stomach lining. This increases the risk of developing stomach cancer.
Hepatitis B virus
The hepatitis B virus can cause chronic inflammation of the liver (hepatitis). This increases the risk of developing liver cancer and bile duct cancer. There is a vaccine against hepatitis B virus.
Hepatitis C virus
The hepatitis C virus can cause chronic inflammation of the liver (hepatitis). This increases the risk of developing liver cancer and bile duct cancer. There is no vaccine against hepatitis C virus.
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
The human immunodeficiency virus (abb. HIV) can cause AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). An infection with HIV also increases the risk of certain types of cancer:
- cervical cancer
- Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas
- Kaposi’s sarcoma
- cancer of the mouth and throat
- cancer of the external genitalia
Human papillomavirus (HPV)
Human papillomavirus (abb. HPV) is not a single virus, but a large group of viruses.
- They infect the skin and mucous membranes and can cause papillomas and warts.
- Some of these viruses can trigger the development of certain malignant tumours.
- There is a vaccine against HPV infection.
I
Immunotherapy
Explanation (in progress)
Infertility
Explanation (in progress)
Informed consent
Explanation (in progress)
Infusion
Explanation (in progress)
Intensitiy Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT)
Explanation (in progress)
Intensitiy Modulated Arc Radiotherapy (IMAT)
Explanation (in progress)
J
Jaundice
Jaundice, also known as icterus, develops when the liver is injured, for example by liver cancer. In that condition, the liver cannot handle bile and remove it from the body properly. As a result, the yellow pigment bilirubin builds up in the skin and the whites of the eyes and turns them yellowish.
K
L
Laparoscopy
Laparoscopy is a medical test that allows doctors to look inside the belly area using a thin tube with a small camera. Doctors make small cuts in the skin to insert the camera and small surgical tools. It may be used to diagnose cancer or to remove some cancers through small cuts.
Linear accelerator (LINAC)
Explanation (in progress)
Long-term survivor
Explanation (in progress)
Lymph vessel
A small tube in the body that carries a clear fluid called lymph, helping fight infections and remove waste.
Lymph node
A small bean-shaped part of the immune system that filters germs and harmful cells.
M
Malignant
Malignant means cancerous. Malignant masses can grow into healthy tissue, destroy it and spread to other parts of the body.
Margin
Margin is the rim of healthy tissue that is removed along with a cancer during surgery. This extra tissue acts as a safety margin around the cancer. Doctors examine the margin to see whether any cancer cells are present. This helps show whether all of the cancer has been removed.
Metastases
Metastases are additional tumours that develop when cancer cells from a first tumour spread via blood and lymph vessels to other locations in the body.
Mucous membranes
Explanation (in progress)
N
Neoadjuvant treatment
Neoadjuvant treatment is a cancer treatment given before surgery. It may include chemotherapy, radiotherapy or other cancer treatments. It aims to make the tumour smaller before surgery. A smaller tumour may be easier to remove. In some cases, neoadjuvant treatment can make surgery possible.
Neuropathy
Explanation (in progress)
Nuclear medicine
Explanation (in progress)
O
Off-label use
Explanation (in progress)
opioids
Explanation (in progress)
Osteoporosis
Explanation (in progress)
P
Palliative medicine
Explanation (in progress)
Palliative therapy
Explanation (in progress)
A cancer treatment that aims to reduce the symptoms of the disease, maintain or improve quality of life, when the cancer itself can no longer be cured, is called palliative therapy.
PET/CT
Explanation (in progress)
Placebo
Explanation (in progress)
platium
Explanation (in progress)
Platinum-based
Explanation (in progress)
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an infection in one or both lungs. It can cause symptoms such as cough, fever, chest pain, and breathing difficulties. Pneumonia can sometimes occur after surgery and may make recovery more difficult.
Precancer
A precancer is a cluster of precancerous cells. Precancerous cells are abnormal cells that are not yet but may become cancer. Doctors can find and remove these cells during screening before they turn into cancer.
Psycho-oncology
field of medicine and psychology that studies how cancer affects a person’s emotions, thoughts, and social life. It also focuses on helping patients and their families cope with the stress, fear, and life changes that come with a cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Q
R
Radon gas
Radon is a radioactive gas that comes from the ground.
- It can seep into buildings and accumulate there.
- The radiation emitted by radon gas can alter the genetic material of body cells.
- Therefore, when people breathe in radon, their risk of lung cancer increases.
Recurrence
Recurrence refers to a tumour that was treated until symptoms had vanished but came back later. Recurrence can occur either at the original site (local recurrence) or in another location in the body (metastases).
Robotic surgery
Robotic surgery is a type of surgery that uses special surgical tools attached to a robotic system. The surgeon fully controls these tools using a computer system. It may be used to remove cancer and can help surgeons perform some operations through smaller cuts.
S
Scintigraphy
Explanation in progress
Solid cancer
Solid cancers are cancers that form a lump or mass in an organ or body tissue. They develop when cells grow in an unusual and uncontrolled way. Solid cancers can occur in many parts of the body, such as the breast, lung, or bowel.
Standard treatment
Explanation (in progress)
Support group
group of people affected by cancer who meet to share experiences, offer emotional support, organise activities, and help each other cope with the challenges of the disease. There are groups for different cancer types and groups for relatives. Support groups also advocate for patients’ interests.
Supportive care
Explanation (in progress)
A cancer treatment that aims to reduce side effects of the disease or its treatment, is called supportive care.
Survivorship
Explanation (in progress)
Survivorship care
Explanation (in progress)
T
Targeted therapy
Explanation (in progress)
Taxan
Explanation (in progress)
Tumour
A lump or mass made of extra cells. A tumour can be benign (not cancer) or malignant (cancer).
Tumour board
Explanation (in progress)
A tumour board consists of several doctors with expertise in different medical fields. They come together regularly to discuss which are the most appropriate treatment options for a cancer patient. They then recommend an individual treatment plan.
U
Urea
Explanation (in progress)
V
Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT)
Explanation (in progress)
W
X
Y
Z