Lexicon of oncology terms

Doxorubicin, paraesthesia, scintigraphy… During breast cancer treatment, you will come across many new terms that a healthy person isn’t familiar with – unless working as a doctor. If your head is spinning from the number of them, here is a helpful glossary of the most common oncology terms.

Illustration: Kateřina Dubská @kater_illu

Ablation – surgical removal of entire breast
Alopecia – hair loss
Cytostatics – drugs used to treat cancer, suppress the growth of tumorous cells
Differentiation – indication of how mature tumorous cells are, a.k.a. grade
Doxorubicin – cytostatic that is usually used as first treatment; due to its colour also called Aperol or orangeade
Echocardiography – heart sonogram
Axillary excision – surgical removal of lymph nodes from armpit
Haematotoxicity – negative effect of chemotherapy on blood cells levels
Histology – microscopic analysis of tissue sample removed from breast
Holter/Holter monitoring – type of EKG for extended monitoring of heart activity
Chemotherapy – oncological treatment using chemicals-cytostatics
Immunohistochemistry – examination of tissue that shows presence of e.g. estrogen receptors
Incidence – number of newly diagnosed oncological cases in selected population in one year
Carcinogen – substance causing cancer
Cardiotoxicity – heart damage due to using chemical substances
Corticoids – substances with the same effect as adrenal cortex hormones
Lumpectomy – removal of tumour and adjacent tissue; kind of breast-conserving surgery
Mastectomy – surgical removal of breast; can be unilateral (one-sided) or bilateral (double-sided)
Metastases – secondary locations of cancer cells outside the original site of tumour
Mortality – death rate
Neurotoxicity – nerve damage due to using chemical substances
Neutropenia – lack of neutrophils in blood (neutrophils are type of leukocytes – white blood cells)
Oncomarker – substance that is detectable at higher levels in blood in some tumours
Paraesthesia – loss of sensation in certain body part(s), usually manifesting as tingling
Radiotherapy – treatment using ionising radiation; used mostly after breast-conserving surgery
Recurrence – return of disease after its real or alleged cure
Remission – disappearance of all traits of disease; asymptomatic period
Restaging examination – follow-up examinations, e.g. CT scan
Bones scintigraphy – radioisotope bone scan to exclude metastatic spread
Sentinel node – first lymph node from tumour in given direction
Setron – anti-nausea drug
Tamoxifen – drug used long-term as part of hormonal treatment
Taxanes – group of cytostatics used during chemotherapy
Thromboembolism – condition where blood clots form
Zoladex – drug (in form of injections) used as an ovarian protection during chemotherapy and also as part of hormonal treatment

Illustration: Kateřina Dubská @kater_illu

Ablation – surgical removal of entire breast

Alopecia – hair loss

Cytostatics – drugs used to treat cancer, suppress the growth of tumorous cells

Differentiation – indication of how mature tumorous cells are, a.k.a. grade

Doxorubicin – cytostatic that is usually used as first treatment; due to its colour also called Aperol or orangeade

Echocardiography – heart sonogram

Axillary excision – surgical removal of lymph nodes from armpit

Haematotoxicity – negative effect of chemotherapy on blood cells levels

Histology – microscopic analysis of tissue sample removed from breast

Holter/Holter monitoring – type of EKG for extended monitoring of heart activity

Chemotherapy – oncological treatment using chemicals-cytostatics

Immunohistochemistry – examination of tissue that shows presence of e.g. estrogen receptors

Incidence – number of newly diagnosed oncological cases in selected population in one year

Carcinogen – substance causing cancer

Cardiotoxicity – heart damage due to using chemical substances

Corticoids – substances with the same effect as adrenal cortex hormones

Lumpectomy – removal of tumour and adjacent tissue; kind of breast-conserving surgery

Mastectomy – surgical removal of breast; can be unilateral (one-sided) or bilateral (double-sided)

Metastases – secondary locations of cancer cells outside the original site of tumour

Mortality – death rate

Neurotoxicity – nerve damage due to using chemical substances

Neutropenia – lack of neutrophils in blood (neutrophils are type of leukocytes – white blood cells)

Oncomarker – substance that is detectable at higher levels in blood in some tumours

Paraesthesia – loss of sensation in certain body part(s), usually manifesting as tingling

Radiotherapy – treatment using ionising radiation; used mostly after breast-conserving surgery

Recurrence – return of disease after its real or alleged cure

Remission – disappearance of all traits of disease; asymptomatic period

Restaging examination – follow-up examinations, e.g. CT scan

Bones scintigraphy – radioisotope bone scan to exclude metastatic spread

Sentinel node – first lymph node from tumour in given direction

Setron – anti-nausea drug

Tamoxifen – drug used long-term as part of hormonal treatment

Taxanes – group of cytostatics used during chemotherapy

Thromboembolism – condition where blood clots form

Zoladex – drug (in form of injections) used as an ovarian protection during chemotherapy and also as part of hormonal treatment