Cancer Dictionary

A tumour or lump that is not cancer. Benign tumours grow slowly and don't spread to other parts of the body.

A sample of tissue is examined and analysed in great detail to see if cells are cancerous or not.

A type of cancer that starts in epithelial cells. Most cancers are carcinomas. [Epithelium cells are a type of tissue that covers many different surfaces on the inside and the outside of your body.] 

Epithelial cells are a type of cell that covers the inside and outside of the surfaces of your body. They are found on your skin, blood vessels, and organs, including your urinary tract.

Chemotherapy is a drug treatment that uses powerful chemicals to kill fast-growing cells in your body. Chemotherapy is most often used to destroy cancer cells. The downside can be:

• loss of hair (regardless of your sex, you go bald). On a positive note, you save a fortune on expensive hairdresser bills. 

• loss of appetite, you will be the slimmest you've been for years. 

• your sense of taste and smell will change - everything has a metallic flavour.

• you get diarrhea  and you can't be more than 15 seconds away from a toilet.

• your eyesight changes and you will need to get new prescription lenses for your glasses.

• chemo will reduce the effectiveness of your immune system and you may be more open to infections.

FIT (Faecal Immunochemical Test) is a test that looks for blood in a sample of your poo. It looks for tiny traces of blood that you might not be able to see and which could be a sign of cancer.

Traces of blood in your poo can be caused by other medical conditions and doesn’t necessarily mean you have cancer. But if it is cancer, finding it at an early stage means treatment is more likely to be successful. 

This is a lump in the body that is cancerous. Malignant tumours can spread to different parts of the body.

When the cancer has spread from one part of the body to another it can be called a metastatic disease or secondary cancer.

In most cases, metastatic cancer isn't curable. But treatment can slow tumour growth and ease many of your symptoms. It's possible to live for several years with some types of cancer, even after metastasis. Some metastases are potentially curable, including melanoma and colon cancer.

A doctor who has special training in diagnosing and treating cancer.  

When cancer treatment has made it temporarily disappear, but it may not have been entirely cured. You have to be in remission for 5 years before you are classified as cured.