As if a cancer diagnosis is not bad enough, many of the terms and words that are thrown around by doctors and nurses are just plain confusing. How many times have you stopped your doctor to ask a question, only to be more confused by the answer? Here are a few terms you may hear at your visit:
Terms:
- Benign: a growth or tumor that is not cancerous and does not have the ability to spread.
- Cancer: uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body. There are many types of cancer with hundreds of different treatments.
- Chemotherapy: medicine used to kill cancer cells. These medicines can be given intravenously (IV or by vein) and orally (by mouth or PO, from Latin per os or by opening).
- Clinical trial: a volunteer research study that tests new treatments to make sure that they are both safe and effective.
- Malignant: a cancerous growth or tumor that can spread to nearby cells or other parts of the body.
- Mediport (port): an IV that is placed surgically, usually beneath the skin in the chest wall. A port allows IV medicine to be given and blood to be drawn without repeated, painful needle sticks.
- Radiation therapy: high energy x-rays used to kill cancer cells. Radiation therapy can be used alone or with chemotherapy (#3).
- Screening: looking for a disease before it presents with symptoms. Some examples of screening tests would be imaging studies like CT scans to screen for lung cancer or mammograms to screen for breast cancer, blood tests like a PSA or prostate specific antigen to screen for prostate cancer, pap smears to screen for cervical cancer or a colonoscopy to screen for colon cancer.
- Side effect: a symptom like nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, extreme fatigue or hair loss caused by a drug, procedure or treatment.
- Stage: helps to describe how much cancer is present and helps doctors to decide on the proper treatment and provide a prognosis.
- Tumor: an abnormal growth of cells that can be benign (cannot spread) or malignant (can spread).
Dr. Katisha Vance is a triple board-certified internist, hematologist and medical oncologist. She is a nationally recognized author, speaker, consultant and sought-after media expert in the area of cancer medicine. As the Founder of Cancer Solutions, LLC, Dr. Katisha promotes actionable ideas and real-world strategies to empower patients take control of their health from cancer diagnosis through treatment. Her mission is simple: empower with knowledge, empower for positive change.
Follow Dr. Katisha on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @DrKatisha.
