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adenocarcinoma: Invasive cancer that arises from the glandular tissue; in the breast this tissue would be the lobules or ducts.
adjuvant: Initial treatment for breast cancer to avoid recurrence.
alopecia: Loss of hair due to the destruction of the hair follicle; temporary hair loss while undergoing chemotherapy.
anesthesia: Loss of feeling or consciousness due to the administration of medications or special gases.
anesthesia (general): Sleep caused by the administration of a gas that prevents the feeling of pain during the procedure.
anesthesia (local): Regional numbing of a specific area of the body causing lack of feeling.
areola: Dark area of tissue around the nipple.
aspirate: Removal of fluid using a needle, usually from a cyst in the breast.
asymptomatic: Not producing symptoms.
atypical: Not normal.
axilla: Armpit.
axillary dissection: Surgical removal of the lymph nodes in the armpit, which are sent to a pathologist to be examined fo the presence of cancer, indicating the possibility of spread.
benign: Not cancer; not malignant.
bilateral: Both sides; both breasts.
biopsy: Surgical removal of tissue to be microscopically examined by a pathologist to determine if it is cancerous; there are numerous techniques to do this depending upon whether a lump can be felt or it is found by a mammogram.
non-palpable lumps: Cannot be felt.
ABBI (Advanced Breast Biopsy Instrumentation): Using digital mammography, a core of tissue is removed for study
stereotactic core: Using computerized equipment, tissue is removed with a needle; several passes are made.
mammotomy: Same as the core but only one insertion of the needle is necessary; vacuum action removes the tissue.
needle localization: Insertion of a wire under mammographic guidance, then surgical removal of the suspicious tissue which hopefully will remove the whole lesion; considered to be a lumpectomy or excisional biopsy.
palpable lumps: Able to be felt.
fine needle aspiration: Using a needle to remove cells.
tru-cut: A needle that removes tissue.
incisional biopsy: Surgical removal of tissue, but not the whole lesion,
excisional biopsy: Surgical removal of the whole lesion; may also be called a lumpectomy or partial mastectomy.
breast augmentation: Surgical procedure to enlarge the breasts; also called mammoplasty; usually, implants placed behind the pectoral muscle are used to make the breasts larger.
breast conservation: Removing the tumor with a margin of normal tissue around it; also called lumpectomy, segmental, tylectomy, partial mastectomy, or quadrantectomy; the breast mound is usually preserved; this procedure depends on the size of the tumor and the size of the breast; if the tumor is in more than one area in the breast this procedure is not usually recommended.
breast implant: Sac of synthetic material--saline or silicone--that is surgically placed under the pectoral muscle to replace the removed breast mound.
breast reconstruction: Surgery to rebuild a mound to resemble a breast, using synthetic materials or tissue from other parts of the body, such as muscle from the abdomen or shoulder; a nipple and areola can be reconstructed using a surgical technique or by tattooing.
BSE (Breast Self-Examination): Following a technique to examine the breast tissue or the chest wall to note any changes; it is recommended that all girls perform this on a monthly basis after they have developed breast tissue; for women having regular periods it is best done a week or two after the period has stopped; after there is no menstrual cycle pick a consistent time each month; this should he continued even after a mastectomy or an implant; ask a physician or nurse to teach how to also examine the axilla (armpit).
calcifications: Calcium deposits are the byproduct of cell division; common in breast tissue, but if found in clusters they are called microcalcifications and may indicate the beginning of breast cancer; the only way to determine if they are cancerous is to remove them; most of the time they are caused by benign changes.
cancer: Abnormal cell growth causing destruction of normal tissue; mutated cells may take years to form a malignant tumor breast cancer has a latency period of many years and it is presumed to take seven to ten years for a breast cancer tumor to reach 1 cm.
clinical trials: Studies to determine the best drugs or means of administering them; all participants receive standard of care.
cyst: Fluid-filled benign lump.
diagnosis: Identifying tissue by means of a biopsy.
dissection: Surgical division or removal of tissue.
DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma in-situ): Also called intraductal breast cancer; breast cancer that is limited to the duct and has not permeated the duct wall to potentially invade the blood vessels or lymphatic system and travel to other parts of the body.
edema: Swelling due to excess fluid in the tissue.
estrogen: one of the female sex hormones produced by the ovary; helps in the development of breast tissue, regulates the menstrual cycle, and prepares the body for reproduction.
estrogen/progesterone receptors: Protein molecules measured on breast cancer tissue to determine if the two sex hormones influence the growth of the tumor; thought to be a good prognostic factor to have positive receptors.
Free flap: Reconstruction procedure which involves complete removal of tissue, artery and vein, then reattachment to mastectomy area; must be done by microscopic surgery.
frozen section: Quick freezing of tissue at the time of surgery to determine the diagnosis; not, readily performed because of the risk of error found on the permanent tissue days later.
gene: Segment of DNA inherited from parents that determines human characteristics; it is thought some breast cancers are caused by mutated genes inherited from either parent; two most commonly discussed are the BRCA1 and BRCA2; presence of these genes signifies high risk for developing breast or ovarian cancer during the lifetime; discussion of risk should be done with a genetic counselor.
grade: Evaluation by a pathologist on the breast tumor to determine how abnormal it looks; it is compared to normal tissue and is measured in numerous ways; most common are well-differentiated, moderately differentiated, or poorly differentiated, hematoma: Collection of blood outside blood vessels; may appear as a bruised lump.
HER-2/neu: A classification of oncogenes that, if present, are thought to be an indication of a more aggressive cancer.
immune system: System that helps the body remove foreign substances such as bacteria, viruses, etc.
infiltrating ductal carcinoma: Also called invasive duct carcinoma; breast cancer originating in the duct and capable of traveling by the blood stream and lymphatic system to other parts of the body.
LCIS (Lobular Carcinoma in situ): Tumor in the milk-producing area of the breast called lobules; considered a marker for potentiality of development of invasive breast cancer in the future.
invasive lobular carcinoma: Breast cancer that starts in the milk glands and is capable of spreading.
linear accelerator. Special x-ray machine that delivers a specific beam to the breast during radiation treatments; called radiation therapy; the physician specialist is called a radiation oncologist.
lymphedema: Swelling of the arm due to the accumulation of trapped fluid from the lymphatic system; may be caused by surgery to remove the tumor, radiation to the axilla, infection in the arm, vascular congestion, or anything that occludes the flow of lymphatic fluid; can happen after surgery or even years later.
mammogram: X-ray of the breast; currently best way to detect non-palpable tumors before they are able to spread to the lymph nodes.
margins: Normal tissue surrounding a tumor.
mastectomy: Surgical removal of the glandular tissue of the breast/nipple/areolar complex.
modified radical mastectomy: Includes removal of the axillary lymph nodes.
total/simple mastectomy: Includes removal of breast tissue and the nipple/areola.
radical mastectomy: Removal of the breast tissue, nipple/areola, axillary lymph nodes, and pectoral muscle; not commonly done today except for locally advanced breast cancer.
mastopexy: Surgical procedure to lift the breast tissue.
multicentric breast cancer: Breast cancer in several areas of the breast.
nodal status: Whether or not the lymph nodes in the armpit contain breast cancer cells; stated as positive 1/1 or 2/3; first number indicates positive nodes, second number indicates how many nodes reviewed by the pathologist.
oncologist: Physician with special training beyond medical school and residency who specializes in the treatment of cancer.
medical oncologist: Administers chemotherapy drugs.
radiation oncologist: Administers radiation treatments.
surgical oncologist: Operates to remove certain types of tumors.
Paget's Disease (of the nipple): Breast cancer that starts in the ducts and spreads to the nipple; usually presents with scaling, crusting, redness, and the appearance of eczema; it is unilateral and a lump does not have to be present.
palliative: Treatment that relieves pain and may cause the cancer to go into remission but does not cure the cancer.
palpation: Examination of the body using the hands.
pectoral muscles: Muscles under the breast tissue attached to the chest wall and running up under the arm.
primary cancer: Place where cancer starts; if cancer cells are found in another place in the body they are examined by a pathologist to determine if they are the same as the primary tumor, in which case it is called a metastasis; it is still breast cancer, but not in the breast; the usual places for breast cancer metastasis are bone, lung, liver, and brain.
prognosis: How well a patient will recover from cancer; there are numerous prognostic factors to be considered, and scientists are working daily on new treatments and methods to predict the course of the disease.
recurrence: Cancer coming back after a period of remission.
remission: Disappearance of symptoms.
risk factor: Something that increases the chance of developing cancer; many are unknown but the most common are: family history of breast cancer, menstrual period starting before age twelve, menopause after age fifty-five, radiation exposure to the chest before age thirty-five, never having a child, or having children after age thirty-five; consult a doctor, a risk counselor, or a genetic specialist for more details; this may be necessary when choosing a procedure for cancer treatment; for example, with previous radiation to the chest wall a lumpectomy would not be a good choice because the body could not receive more radiation since there is a lifetime limit of radiation exposure to an area; also, if there is a strong family history of breast cancer in first degree relatives--mother, sister--at an early age, bilateral mastectomies may be considered.
sentinel node: Presumed to be the first axillary lymph node to which cancer spreads from the breast; radioactive substance is injected in the tumor site by a specially trained nuclear medicine radiologist; an instrument similar to a Geiger counter maps where the substance has traveled in the axilla; the surgeon inserts blue dye and removes the node that is blue and responds on the counter; a pathologist examines for the presence of cancer; in some institutions this is standard of care, but it depends on how many the surgeon has performed and how accurate the results; the surgeon should be consulted to determine the patient's candidacy for this procedure and a medical oncologist should be consulted to determine if medical treatment can be tailored for the patient from the information obtained.
staging: The extent of cancer spread; based on size of the cancer, nodes involved, and if it has spread to other parts of the body; staging determines the treatment plan, what medications (chemotherapy) will be used, how long the treatments will last and, ultimately, the length of survival.
supracla vicular nodes: Lymph nodes along the collarbone.
systemic therapy: Treatment that affects the whole body, not just the local cancer.
TRAM flap (Transverse Rectus Abdominal Muscle flap): For the reconstruction of a breast it is tunneled under the skin and fat of the abdominal wall into the breast wound where it is shaped into a breast mound. This results in removing excess skin and fat from the lower abdomen simular to a "tummy tuck" operation.
tumor: Solid mass of abnormal tissue that can be malignant or benign; term commonly used by the medical profession to mean a cancerous growth because it is considered to be a more sensitive word than cancer, although it can be misinterpreted.
unilateral: One side; one breast.
ultrasound: Imaging method that uses sound waves to transmit a picture to a television screen; no radiation exposure is involved and it is helpful to determine if a lump is solid or a fluid filled cyst; can also be used to do surgery by needle localization or core biopsies.
Excerpted from the SHOWME Book/2nd Edition: A Photo Collection of Breast Cancer Survivors' Lumpectomies, Mastectomies, Breast Reconstruction and Thoughts on Body Image; 2001 The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center; used by permission |
