Cancer Glossary

Cancer Glossary

Cancer Glossary

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Acupuncture: An ancient Asian system of therapy that uses long, thin needles to cure disease or relieve symptoms.

Advance directive: A document in the patient’s record describing his or her wishes regarding various life-sustaining

interventions in the event the patient cannot communicate directly. 

Alternative medicine: Healing treatment(s) used instead of mainstream, hospital-based healthcare practice.

Ambulette: A transport service for patients, usually a van that can accommodate patients in wheelchairs.

Antiangiogenesis therapy: Experimental cancer treatment that focuses on blocking growth of new blood vessels to tumors.

Anticipatory grief: Beginning to experience the loss of someone before the person actually dies.

Attending physician: The physician in charge of a hospital patient’s care.

Caregiver: One who helps another person with a serious illness do what he or she ordinarily would be able to do to

meet both current and future needs.

Case manager: Also called a discharge planner. Nurse or social worker who coordinates the patient’s discharge from

a hospital.

Chemotherapy: Also called “chemo.” Treatment of disease using chemical substances or drugs.

Clinical nurse specialist (CNS): Nurse with a master’s degree who can provide patient care and education in a medical

specialty.

Clinical trials: Research projects conducted by doctors to test the safety and efficacy of new drugs, therapies, or prevention strategies on patients. Also known as research protocols or clinical studies, clinical trials are scientific experiments overseen by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which, based on the results of the trials, decides whether or not to approve the new drugs or therapies for general use.

Colostomy: Surgery to establish an artificial connection between the lumen of the colon and the skin.

Complementary medicine or therapies: Healing treatment(s) used together with mainstream, hospitalbased medical practice.

Counseling: Mental health therapy with a professionally trained therapist (see Social workers).

Defense mechanism: A psychological method of protecting oneself from anxiety or high emotional distress.

Denial is an example.

Denial: A defense mechanism people use to reduce their distress. It can include minimizing the significance of a stressful event, or in the extreme, denying its existence altogether.

Dietitian: A professional who plans tailored diets to meet the nutritional requirements of people with special healthcare needs.

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid): The molecular building blocks of chromosomes. They contain and control genetic information in cells, including how they divide, grow, and function.

Do not resuscitate order (DNR): Can be a component of an advance directive and a living will; specifies the medical steps to be taken in the event the patient is found to be minimally responsive with minimal life signs.

Durable medical equipment (DME): Equipment such as walkers, wheelchairs, bedside commodes, or hospital beds that can be ordered from equipment suppliers for home use.

Educational groups: A gathering of people where information is presented on a range of topics (e.g., coping techniques, relaxation methods, management of medical issues).

Experimental protocol: Research of a new drug or therapy using very specific materials and steps.

Fellow: Physician-in-training working in a teaching hospital.

Genetic counselor: An expert in genetics, a branch of science focused on the transmission and consequences of biologic inheritance.

Health maintenance organization (HMO): An organization providing health care to enrolled members through a network of member doctors and other healthcare providers. Designed to reduce costs, HMOs also typically restrict access to providers or specialists outside their approved networks.

Healthcare proxy: A document (also called medical durable power of attorney or healthcare agent) designating a family member, guardian, or friend as the decision maker about medical treatment for a patient (see Surrogate).

Home care: Medical, nursing, social, or rehabilitative services provided in the patient’s home.

Home health aide: A qualified person able to assist a patient with bathing, dressing, getting around in his or her own home, and doing other homemaking tasks (also, Personal care attendant).

Hospice care: A facility or home care program designed to help meet the physical and emotional needs of the terminally ill.

Hypnosis: An artificially induced trance-like state of consciousness in which the subject is susceptible to suggestion. Used in symptom relief and to reinforce behavioral change. 

Incapacitated (mentally): A term used when patient is deemed by the medical team as being unable to give informed consent for a medical procedure (i.e., comatose, mentally disoriented; see Healthcare proxy).

Informed consent: After a patient is educated about his or her diagnosis and all reasonable procedures and treatments  ptions for the disease, he or she must indicate an understanding of and agreement to a course of action by signing forms.

Intern: Physician-in-training working in a teaching hospital.

Last will and testament: A legal document specifying a person’s wishes with regard to inheritance after the person dies.

Licensed practical nurse (LPN): Has completed a two-year degree in nursing; often involved with handson patient care.

Living trust: A legal document created for a person while he or she is still alive in order to protect financial assets. A financial planner or lawyer can provide details.

Living will: Legal document that specifies a patient’s wishes in the event he or she becomes mentally incapacitated.

Malignancy: Tumors that are characterized by the ability to invade surrounding tissue and spread to other parts of the body.

Managed care plan: Insurance or health care plans that rely on primary care physicians, and other methods, to manage or coordinate the medical care people receive.

Mastectomy: Surgical removal of the breast.

Medicaid: A federal- and state-funded health insurance program for those on a limited income.

Medicare: A federally run health insurance program for those aged 65 years or more, or those on Social Security Disability, who are legally blind, or on renal dialysis.

Metastasis: The spread of cancer from the primary (original) tumor to another part of the body.

Nurse practitioner (NP): Advanced practice clinician with a master’s degree who can prescribe medications and write medical orders.

Nursing home: A facility that provides long-term custodial care for patients who can no longer live at home.

Nutritionist: An expert in food and drink intake (diet) for therapeutic purposes.

Oncologist: Physician expert in the treatment of cancer; includes overseeing administration of chemotherapy and other regimens.

Ostomy: Surgery to create an opening from the skin to the urinary or gastrointestinal canal, or the trachea.

Palliation: Reduction of severity (to mitigate). Palliative care focuses on treating the symptoms of disease rather than curing it. 

Paratransit program: A local public transport system for those with a physical impairment or medical condition.

Patient confidentiality: Legal limits as to what the medical team can tell people other than the patient and his or her spouse or designated surrogate/ healthcare proxy.

Personal Emergency Response System (PERS): A device that a patient can wear that can alert emergency help.

Phobia: Overwhelming fear of an object, situation, or procedure.

Physiatrist: A doctor who specializes in rehabilitation medicine.

Physician assistant (PA): Medical professional who can diagnose, treat, and write prescriptions under a physician’s guidance.

Phytochemicals: Chemicals found in plants.

Positive coping: Techniques of thinking and behaving that help a patient respond to an event or stress more effectively.

Power of attorney: A surrogate or proxy decision maker for the patient who legally makes all health-related and financial decisions for the patient; entails a legal document.

Primary caregiver: One who provides or organizes others to provide the essential logistical and emotional support for a person with cancer.

Prognosis: Prediction of the course of a disease.

Progressive relaxation: A relaxation technique using deep breathing and muscle control exercises; can also incorporate peaceful music and guided imagery.

Prostatectomy: Surgical removal of part or all of the prostate, which can alter men’s physical/sexual responses.

Protocol: Description of a clinical trial; also used more generally to refer to a plan of medical treatment.

Public assistance: A federally run program to provide cash benefits (e.g., food stamps, welfare) for persons with a low income to purchase food and clothing and to pay for housing.

Radiation oncologist: Physician expert in radiation therapy.

Radiation therapy: Used in both diagnosis and treatment, the application of light, short radio waves, ultraviolet rays, or X-rays upon a specific area of the body for a period of time.

Registered nurse (RN): Provides patient care; usually has completed a four-year college degree and hospital training.

Resident: Physician who has completed an internship and is receiving training in a specialized area.

Sexual paraphernalia: An apparatus or object used in sexual activity.

Skilled nursing facility (SNF): A healthcare facility providing shortterm nursing care with the aim of having the patient return home or to a family member’s home.

Skilled nursing need: A need for services or care that can be performed only by a licensed nurse, such as treating a wound, teaching the administration of new medications, or assessing clinical status at home. Often a requirement for home care by insurers.

Social Security: A federally run program that provides monthly payments to persons over age 65 years and family

survivors; the amount is calculated from the person’s work history.

Social Security Disability (SSD): A federally run program that provides a monthly income to disabled workers and their families.

Social workers: Certified or licensed social workers (CSW, LCSW, LSW) usually have a master’s degree (MSW, MSSW) or doctorate (DSW, PhD), and counsel the patient and family coping with the stress of diagnosis and treatment. These professionals also can identify community mental health resources and coordinate patient discharge.

Standby guardian: A legally designated person who will have custody of a patient’s children in the event of their parent’s death or mental incapacitation.

Staging: Systems of classifying a patient’s cancer by tumor size and how far it has spread in the body.

Suicidal ideation: Thoughts or plans to commit suicide.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI): A federally run program that provides income to eligible people over age 65 years; legally blind or disabled; who have a low income, few assets, or a limited formal work history.

Support group: A gathering that is focused on sharing experiences, providing emotional support, and relieving the sense of isolation. May be led by social workers or trained cancer survivor volunteers.

Supportive or comfort care: Focuses on treating the symptoms of disease in the later stages of the terminal disease process.

Suppression: Trying not to think about something.

Surgery: Removal of a tumor, organ(s), or other objects from the body and/or repair of body parts using specific resection techniques.

Surrogate decision maker: A person designated to make health-related decisions for that patient. The medical team addresses all healthcare issues for the patient directly to the surrogate.

Therapy groups: Group counseling to treat a specific therapeutic issue (e.g., depression, anxiety) led by a mental health professional.

Time-out: A coping strategy of removing oneself from an emotionproducing person or situation for a short period of time.

Touch therapy: Massage or acupressure.

Veterans’ benefits: Financial and/or medical care and discounted prescription drugs that may be available for U.S. veterans.

Yoga: An ancient Hindu system of philosophy that employs physical exercise and diet restrictions to control

the functioning of the mind and body.