The terminology used by doctors and medical staff can be confusing. The following provides some information on commonly used terms and their meanings.
Diagnosis
A diagnosis of cancer means that cancer cells have been found in your body this diagnosis will take into account any tests that you have had, your symptoms and your medical history. The doctor supervising your tests should explain to you the type of cancer that has been found and where it is.
Hearing this sort of information can be frightening. It may be hard to take in all the details you are being given, so it might be helpful to have someone with you as support, or to make notes. Dont hesitate to ask questions or ask for things to be repeated.
Dont feel rushed if you are unsure of anything, you may want to make another appointment after the diagnosis to discuss treatment options more fully.
Benign and malignant
The mass of abnormal cells formed when cells start dividing uncontrollably is called a tumour. There are two types of tumour: benign and malignant.
Benign tumours contain cells that are not able to spread to a different site in the body. This means they are not cancerous. They are generally contained within a covering of normal cells. They usually grow slowly and are often harmless, not requiring any treatment. However, if they grow large and begin to encroach on the space of surrounding organs, they can cause problems. In this circumstance they do require treatment.
Malignant tumours contain cells that are capable of spreading beyond the original tumour to another part of the body. This can be dangerous because as the cells invade surrounding tissues they can damage them - and stop them from working properly. This type of tumour is cancerous.
Doctors can tell whether a tumour is benign or malignant by examining a small sample of cells from the tumour under the microscope. This is called a biopsy.
Primary and Secondary
The original site of a tumour is called the primary cancer. It refers to the place at which the cancer originated.
When cells from malignant tumours break away and travel to other parts of the body they form new groups of cells, and these are called secondary tumours. This indicates that these cells have travelled from a different site and did not originate at the site where the secondary tumour is located. A secondary tumour may also be referred to as a metastasis.
Staging
Doctors use a system called staging to describe the size of a tumour and whether it has spread beyond the area in which it started. Each type of cancer has a different system of staging that helps to describe the progress of that cancer. In general there are a number of stages that begin at a small, localised cancer, right through to one that has spread extensively into surrounding areas of the body. This might be termed an advanced cancer. Knowing the stage is important in deciding on the most appropriate treatment.
03/06/2009