19 Cancer Medicine vocab

Question 1

adjuvant therapy

Answer 1

assisting primary tx, drugs are given early in the tx course, along with surgery or radiation to attack deposits of cancer cells

Question 2

anaplasia

Answer 2

loss of differentiation of cells, reversion to a primitive cell type

Question 3

angiogenesis

Answer 3

process of forming new blood vessels

Question 4

benign tumor

Answer 4

noncancerous growth (neoplasm)

Question 5

biological response modifiers

Answer 5

substances produced by normal cells that either directly block tumor growth or stimulate the immune system to fight cancer

Question 6

brachytherapy

Answer 6

radiotherapy that uses insertion of sealed contrainers into body cavities or radioactive seeds directly into the tumor

Question 7

carcinogens

Answer 7

agents that cause cancer; chemicals and drugs, radiation and viruses

Question 8

carcinoma

Answer 8

cancerous tumor made up of cells of epithelial origin

Question 9

cellular oncogenes

Answer 9

pieces of DNA that, when activated by mutations or by dislocation, can cause a normal cell to become malignant

Question 10

dedifferentiation

Answer 10

loss of differentiation of cells; reversion to a more primitive, embryonic cell type; anaplasia or undifferentiation

Question 11

DNA

Answer 11

deoxyribonucleic acid - genetic material - controls cell division and protein synthesis

Question 12

differentiating agents

Answer 12

drugs that promote tumor cells to differentiate, stop growing and die

Question 13

grading of tumors

Answer 13

evaluating the degree of maturity of tumor cells or indication of malignant transformation

Question 14

infiltrative

Answer 14

extending beyond normal tissue boundaries into adjacent tissues

Question 15

invasive

Answer 15

having the ability to enter and destroy surrounding tissue

Question 16

irradiation

Answer 16

exposure to any form of radiant energy such light, heat, or x-ray

Question 17

malignant tumor

Answer 17

tumor w/ characteristics continuous growth, invasiveness, metasatasis

Question 18

metastasis

Answer 18

spread of malignant tumor to a secondary site (meta- beyond) (-stasis = control)

Question 19

mesenchymal

Answer 19

embryonic connective tissue, tissue from which connective tissues arise

Question 20

mitosis

Answer 20

replication of cells, two identical cells from parent

Question 21

meiosis

Answer 21

specialized type of cell division which reduces the chromosome number by half. This process occurs in all sexually reproducing eukaryotes

Question 22

modality

Answer 22

method of tx, such as surgery, chemotherapy, or irradiation

Question 23

morbidity

Answer 23

condition of being unwell; deficient in normal function

Question 24

mucinous

Answer 24

containing mucus

Question 25

mutation

Answer 25

change in the genetic material of a cell; may be caused by chemicals, radiation, or viruses, or spontaneously

Question 26

neoplasm

Answer 26

new growth, benign or malignant tumors

Question 27

nucleotide

Answer 27

unit of DNA composed of sugar, phosphate and a base

Question 28

oncogene

Answer 28

region of DNA in tumor cells or in viruses that cause cancer

Question 29

palliative

Answer 29

relieving pain but not curing symptoms

Question 30

pedunculated

Answer 30

possessing a stem or stalk(peduncle) characteristic of some polypoid tumors

Question 31

pharmacokinetics

Answer 31

study of the distribution in and the removal of drugs from the body over time in humans and animals

Question 32

radiation

Answer 32

energy carries by a stream of particles

Question 33

relapse

Answer 33

recurrence of tumor after treatment

Question 34

remission

Answer 34

partial or complete disappearance of symptoms of disease

Question 35

RNA

Answer 35

ribonucleic acid, represents a copy of DNA and directs the formation of new protein inside cells

Question 36

sarcoma

Answer 36

cancerous tumor derived from connective or flesh tissue

Question 37

serous

Answer 37

having the appearance of a thin watery fluid (serum)

Question 38

sessile

Answer 38

having no stem; characteristics of some polypoid tumors

Question 39

staging of tumors

Answer 39

system of evaluating the extend of spread of tumors

Question 40

viral oncogenes

Answer 40

pieces of DNA from viruses that infect a normal cell and cause it to become malignant

Question 41

virus

Answer 41

an infectious agent that reproduces by entering a host cell and using the host’s genetic material to make copies of itself