I'm Laeticia, and I've been studying Radiation Oncology for a year at Ahuntsic College. I hope to be a technologist in this field. This program will teach me how to administer doses of radiation to patients with cancer. This treatment helps to destroy cancerous cells in the patient's body, and bring them to recovery. This glossary will help anyone who wants to discover or comprehend better terms we often use in this field. This glossary including 20 terms will also aid to differentiate words with similar definitions. I will find my accurate definitions on Google, and in my Actively Engaged Online book. In this glossary, you will find for each term its definition, its part of speech, how it is pronounced, an example of how it is used, and an image related to it. Once you went through to glossary, you can validate your comprehension with the definition quiz!
benign
adjective
not harmful in effect, not cancerous
Example: A colorectal cancer usually develops in benign adenomatous polyps which are often amenable.
en: bénigne
biopsy
noun
An examination of tissue removed from a living body to discover the presence, cause, or extent of a disease.
Example: A positive biopsy establishes the diagnosis.
en: biopsie
brachytherapy
noun
The treatment of cancer, especially prostate cancer, by the insertion of radioactive implants directly into the tissue.
Example: HDR (High Dose Rate) brachytherapy with external irradiation for the cervix carcinoma is an effective method to improve tumor control, and reduce complication rate more research is necessary.
en: curiethérapie
cancer
noun
A disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of the body.
Example: Mutations which cause cancer are usually not inherited.
en: cancer
carcinoma
noun
A cancer arising in the epithelial tissue of the skin or of the lining of the internal organs.
Example: Histology showed this to be a recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma.
en: carcinome
chemotherapy
noun
The treatment of disease by the use of chemical substances.
Example: Unfortunately, for this type of cancer, radiotherapy and chemotherapy are not helpful.
en: chimiothérapie
diagnosis
noun
The identification of the nature of an illness or other problem by examination of the symptoms.
Example: Further scans are required to confirm the diagnosis of an abnormality.
en: diagnostic
dose
noun
The total energy of ionizing radiation absorbed by unit mass of living tissue, usually measured in grays or rads.
Example: The correct dose must be administered since the consequences are irreversible.
en: dose
dosimeter
noun
A device used to measure an absorbed dose of ionizing radiation.
Example: Make sure your dosimeter is still functioning properly.
en: dosimètre
epidemiology
noun
The branch of medicine which deals with the incidence, distribution, and possible control of diseases and other factors relating to health.
Example: This team draws together researchers with experience in economic and social demography with epidemiology and statistics.
en: épidémiologie
external radiation
adjective, noun
A treatment that uses beams of radiation delivered from a machine outside the body to precisely target a tumor.
Example: External radiation can cause irritation to the skin.
en: radiothérapie externe
lymph node
noun
Each of a number of small swellings in the lymphatic system where lymph is filtered and lymphocytes are formed.
Example: There seems to be no axillary lymph node involvement.
en: noeuds lymphatiques ( ganglions)
malignant
adjective
Cancerous, abnormal cells growing without limits.
Example: No malignant changes were identified in the scans.
en: maligne
metastasis
noun
The development of secondary malignant growths at a distance from a primary site of cancer.
Example: Lymph nodes represent the commonest initial site of METASTASIS via lymphatic spread for this type of cancer.
en: métastase
palliative therapy
noun
The treatment that may relieve symptoms without curing the disease.
Example: You should start palliative therapy in a couple weeks since the other treatments don't seem to work.
en: thérapy palliative
radiotherapy
noun
Treatment of cancer, by means of alpha or beta particles emitted from an implanted or ingested radioisotope, or by means of a beam of high-energy radiation.
Example: Following surgery and radiotherapy adjuvant treatment with chemotherapy, the chances of recovery are higher than just surgery.
en: radiothérapie
recovery
noun
A return to a normal state of health, mind, or strength.
Example: The chances of a complete recovery are quite high in your case.
en: réémission
scan
noun
To examine or map the body, or one or more organs or regions of it, by gathering information with a sensing device, such as a moving detector or a sweeping beam of radiation.
Example: This scan shows us the abnormalities in his lungs.
en: scan
symptoms
noun
A physical or mental feature which is regarded as indicating a condition of disease, particularly such a feature that is apparent to the patient.
Example: The patient has been feeling new suspicious symptoms since his last treatment, we should talk to the oncologist about it.
en: symptômes
x-ray
noun
A photographic or digital image of the internal composition of something, especially a part of the body, produced by X-rays being passed through it and being absorbed to different degrees by different materials.
Example: The newest x-ray of this patient showed that their tumor decreased by a lot.
