Glossary of Terms

A

Accessioned: Entered into the tumor registry by the year in which the patient was first seen at the medical facility.
Advanced Disease: The uncontrolled spread of the disease at either the primary or distant (metastatic) site. This may be termed also as "end-stage" disease; however this term does not imply the amount of time the patient may survive.
Advocacy Group: A group of individuals composed of patients, physicians, researchers and others that are dedicated to making policy and procedure changes for specific diseases through work with legislators, insurance companies and medical associations. These groups work to assure that medical and scientific information is understandable and available to the general population.
Analytic Cases: Patients that were first diagnosed and/or received all or part of their first course of treatment at the medical facility.
Antibody: A protein molecule produced by the immune system that specifically binds with antigen.
Antigen: Any of a variety of materials that induce the body's immune system to produce antibodies.
Ascites Fluid: The accumulation of a watery fluid in the abdominal cavity beneath the diaphragm extending down to the pelvic region.
Assay: A test to determine an amount or physical presence of a specific substance, such as a cell, protein or gene taken from a specimen sample.

B

Background: Usually refers to excess staining, beyond the intended target tissue/organelle.
Biopsy: Removal of tissue from the body for diagnostic reasons.

C

Cancer: A generic term for any kind of malignant tumor.
Chemosensitivity Assay: A laboratory test that analyzes to which drug a patient will most likely respond.
Chemotherapy: The treatment of cancer using specific drugs that selectively destroy tumor cells.
Clinical: Pertaining to the symptoms and course of a disease.
Clinical Trials: A carefully planned and controlled research study performed under well-defined protocols to evaluate the risks and benefits of new treatments on patients. The research is focused on answering specific medical questions relating to prevention, detection or treatment of disease.
Cytology: The study of cells.

D

Diagnosis: The process for deciding what disease is present.
Diagnostic Tests: Laboratory tests used to determine the cause of an illness or disorder.
Diploid: Having two sets of chromosomes (one set from each parent) as normally found in the somatic cells of higher organisms.
Distant: Tumor has spread beyond immediately adjacent organs or tissues by direct extension and/or has either developed secondary or metastatic tumors, has metastasized to distant lymph nodes or has been determined to be systemic in origin.
DNA: Deoxyribonucleic acid. The biochemical constituents of chromosomes.
Drug Resistance Assay: A highly specific test to identify chemotherapy agents that have a low probability of being effective in the patient.

E

Effusion: Body fluid that has passed through a membrane or tissue and begun to accumulate excessively in a body cavity.
Eosin: A pink/red cytoplasmic dye.
Estrogen Receptor: A protein which specifically binds to estrogen and mediates its biological activity. When present in breast and other cancers, predicts response to hormonal therapy.
Extreme Resistance: The highly unlikely probability that a clinical response will be achieved with chemotherapy.

F

Fine Needle Aspirate (or FNA): Specimen acquired through insertion of a thin needle into a lesion whereby cells are withdrawn using negative pressure.
First Course of Treatment: The initial tumor-directed treatment or series of treatments, usually initiated within four months after diagnosis.
Flow Cytometry: Method of analysis used to examine the staining of single cell suspensions by focusing a laser beam on each cell and measuring the emitted fluorescence.
Follow-up: To monitor all patients entered into the registry to ensure annual updating through contacting physician's offices, hospital readmission or patient contact.

H

Hematoxylin: A blue dye for staining cell nuclei.
Her-2/neu: Oncoprotein (product of an oncogene); overexpression is a negative prognostic indicator in many cancers, including breast and ovarian carcinoma.
Histogram: Two dimensional graph of data (i.e., content vs. cell number)
Hormone: A chemical substance produced by an organ which has a specific regulatory effect on the activity of organs.

I

Image Analyzer: Instrument consisting of a microscope, camera and computer, used to quantify cellular components that have been marked or stained.
Immunohistochemistry (or IHC): Technique that uses antibodies to identify and mark antigens expressed by cells in tissues.
Informed Consent: A document that is completely discussed with the patient describing the clinical trial goals, treatments, tests, potential risks and benefits that allows the patient to make an educated decision of whether to participate in the study.
In Situ-Hybridization: Use of labeled fragments of DNA (probes) that can bind (hybridize) to specific, complementary sequences.

L

Local: Tumor is confined to organ or origin.
Lymph Nodes: Small nodular bodies scattered along the path of lymphatics. They produce and store white blood cells and filter harmful substances out of the system. They are often the first site of cancer metastases.
Lymphoma: Any neoplasm of lymphoid tissue.

M

Malignant Tumor: A mass of cancer cells which may invade surrounding tissues or spread to distant areas of the body.
Maximum Tolerated Dose: The highest dose of a drug, drug combination or other treatment that a patient can safely tolerate.
Measurable Disease: A tumor whose size can be clearly measured and recorded, thus allowing documentation of any clinical trial treatment response to therapy.
Metastasis: Transfer of a cancer from one organ or part to another not directly connected.
Metastatic: A secondary tumor that is away from the original or "primary" tumor mass.
Micrometastases: Presence of a small number of tumor cells, particularly in the lymph nodes and bone marrow, not readily detected by standard methods.
Monoclonal Antibody: An antibody produced by a single clone of cells comprising a single species of antibody molecules. Reacts with only one antigen.

N

Non-analytic Cases: Patients diagnosed before the reference date of registry or diagnosed and treated at another facility, or diagnosed at autopsy. These cases are not included in survival statistics because they represent an incomplete group.

O

Oncogene: Abnormal genes derived from proto-oncogenes (normal counterparts); are associated with many cancers.
Oncology: The study of cancer.
Outcomes: A patient's status as a result of the consequences of treatment or therapy for the disease.

P

p53: A tumor suppressor gene. Mutations in the p53 gene are associated with many different cancers and are related to cancer progression.
Palliative: Therapy that relieves symptoms, such as pain, but does not alter the course of the disease.
Pathology: That branch of medicine with studies essential nature of disease, especially the structural and functional changes in tissues and organs of the body which cause or are caused by disease.
Partial Response: A measurable reduction in the tumor mass of at least 50%, following treatment with chemotherapy or radiation.
Phase I Trial: Phase I clinical trials contribute the first human testing of a new drug or treatment. These trials have several purposes including determination of the maximum tolerated dose of a new drug, the safety profile and side effects associated with the drug and whether there may be preliminary indications that it may be beneficial to patients. Phase I studies typically enroll patients that have advanced cancer that is resistant to standard treatment.
Phase II Trial: Phase II clinical trails continue to evaluate the safety and potential risks associated with the new drug or treatment. The main focus of this phase is to determine if more than 20% of the patients have a response to therapy. A majority of the patients enrolled in Phase II clinical trials have advanced measurable disease and are unresponsive to standard treatment.
Phase III Trial: Phase III clinical trials are designed to test the new drug or treatment against the current standard therapy for a specific cancer type. These studies measure the response rate of the patients to the therapy, outcomes and survival. Although many Phase III clinical trials compare a new treatment with the standard treatment for a disease, some Phase III studies compare two different standard treatment options against one another.
Phase IV Trial: Phase IV clinical trials provide additional information on a drug's safety and efficacy, dosage, duration of treatment, interactions and inadequately quantified adverse reactions and risk factors.
Placebo: A placebo is an inactive substance that is given to a select group of patients in place of a study drug in some clinical trials. It is rare that a placebo will be used in the study when there are standard treatments available to the patient to be compared against the new drug or treatment. A placebo may be utilized when there is no current standard treatment available for a specific cancer type.
Pleural Effusion: A collection of fluid in one side of the chest surrounding the lung.
Ploidy: The number of chromosomal sets (e.g. diploid).
Predictive Markers: Biological indicators that estimate response to a specific therapy.
Primary Site: The anatomical location with the human body considered the point of origin of malignancy.
Principle Investigator: The lead clinical trial researcher responsible for organizing and overseeing the clinical trial.
Prognostic: Referring to potential future behavior of a disease.
Prognostic Markers: They provide insights into the biology of the cancer and are used to plan therapeutic interventions.
Progesterone Receptor: A protein which specifically binds to progesterone and mediates its biological activity. When present in breast and other cancers, predicts response to hormonal therapy.
Proliferation: Cell cycle kinetics, reproduction or multiplication of a cell.
Protocol: Description of steps taken in a clinical trial.

Q

Quality of Life: Refers to the patient's ability to take pleasure in normal daily activities.

R

Radiation Therapy: The treatment of disease, especially cancer, by exposure to high-energy particles (x-ray).
Radioactive Labeled Thymidine: A radioactive amino acid that is incorporated into the DNA during cell division and is used to determine the amount of cell growth and drug resistance.
Randomly Assigned: The process of assigning patients to either receive a new drug (treatment arm) or standard therapy/placebo (control arm) by chance alone, reducing the likelihood of bias in the study
Rb: The first tumor suppressor gene described; associated with the childhood tumor retinoblastoma, as well as many other types of cancers.
Recurrent Disease: Cancer that recurs after all visible tumor has been eradicated.
Regional: Tumor has spread by direct extension to immediately adjacent organs or tissue, and/or metastasized to regional lymph nodes or organs and appears to have spread no further.
Relapse: The return of symptoms and signs of a disease after a period of improvement.
Resistant: Tumor cells are unresponsive or marginally responsive to therapy for the disease.
Response: A significant reduction, 50% or more in the size of a tumor mass following either chemotherapy administration or radiation therapy.
RNA: Ribonucleic acid. A nucleic acid found in all living cells and one of the major chemical constituents of nucleoli and ribosomes; involved in the transmission of genetic information from DNA to proteins.

S

Salvage Therapy: The end-stage treatment of patients who are non-responsive to or cannot tolerate other available treatments for a particular disease.
Sarcoma: A malignant neoplasm derived from connective tissues.
Second Line Therapy: A chemotherapy regimen chosen when the cancer patient begins to lose responsiveness to the initial treatment.
Sensitivity: In IHC, the ability of an antibody to detect the presence of an antigen, particularly at low antigen levels.
Serum: Fluid component of blood (noncellular).
Specimen: Material sent in for evaluation, biopsy (tissue) or cell suspensions (body fluids).
Stage of Disease: The extent of cancer spread as determined at the time of the first evaluation, according to specified guidelines.
Staining: To apply reagents to cells in order to impart color to specific components.
Standard Treatment: The accepted mode of therapy that is normally given to patients with a specific disease or type of cancer.
Survival: The period of time that a patient is alive following diagnosis and treatment for the specific disease.
Systemic: Pertaining to a whole body rather than one of its parts.

T

Taxol: A chemotherapeutic agent (derived from the bark of the yew tree) having broad anti-tumor activity.
Tumor: A swelling or enlargement; a growth or neoplasm, often referring to cancer.
Tumor Suppressor Gene: A gene involved in the normal growth regulation of cells. Abnormalities (mutations) of tumor suppressor genes are associated with the cause and progression of cancer based on abnormal cell growth.

U

Unknown: Tumor is said to be unknown when the stage cannot be determined from the medical record or medical authority.