NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms (2024)

FAQs

What is the NCI definition of cancer? ›

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is the federal government's principal agency for cancer research and training. Established under the National Cancer Institute Act of 1937, NCI is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), one of 11 agencies that make up the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

In medicine, an abnormal lesion or growth in or on the body may be benign (not cancer), precancerous or premalignant (likely to become cancer), or malignant (cancer).

Malignant. We call a tumor that can spread to other parts of the body a malignant tumor. A malignant tumor is cancer.

At its most basic, cancer is a disease of the genes in the cells of our body. Genes control the way our cells work. But, changes to these genes can cause cells to malfunction, causing them to grow and divide when they should not—or preventing them from dying when they should. These abnormal cells can become cancer.

Three designations are recognized: Comprehensive Cancer Centers, Clinical Cancer Centers, and Basic Laboratory Cancer Centers.

The eight distinct hallmarks consist of sustaining proliferative signaling, evading growth suppressors, resisting cell death, enabling replicative immortality, inducing angiogenesis, activating invasion and metastasis, deregulating cellular energetics and metabolism, and avoiding immune destruction.

Disease progression: Cancer is spreading or growing. With solid tumors, this is determined through routine scans during treatment, but some patients become aware of progression as they develop new or worsening symptoms. Some blood tests can also be used to provide more information about disease progression.

A person with end-stage cancer may receive treatment to help control pain and other symptoms so they can be as comfortable as possible and have a better quality of life. Also called terminal cancer.

Celsus ( c. 25 BC – 50 AD) translated carcinos into cancer, the Latin word for crab or crayfish. In the 2nd century AD, the Greek physician Galen used oncos (Greek for 'swelling') to describe all tumours, reserving Hippocrates' term carcinos for malignant tumours.

"Difficult roads can lead to beautiful destinations." "There's always hope beyond what you see." "It's possible not just to survive, but to thrive and to live a healthy, wonderful life again." "Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it."

How do dead cancer cells leave the body? ›

If the dead cells are located at external or luminal surfaces, they will slough from the skin or will shed into the lumen and then be excreted out of the body as a component of feces, urine, milk, sweat, phlegm, saliva, etc (Fig.

Malignant tumors are cancerous, meaning their cells have sustained several abnormal changes to their DNA. They begin invading neighboring cells, multiplying and dividing at a very fast and out-of-control rate.

It's because of this location, surrounded and obscured by internal organs, that pancreatic tumors are impossible to see or feel during a routine medical exam. Making diagnosis even more difficult is the fact that in its early stages, pancreatic cancer is usually a so-called “silent” disease and causes no symptoms.

As defined by the National Cancer Institute, cancer that occurs in fewer than 15 out of 100,000 people each year. Most types of cancer are considered rare, and they are often more difficult to prevent, diagnose, and treat than the more common cancers.

The PREVENT program is a peer-reviewed agent development program designed to support preclinical development of innovative interventions and biomarkers for cancer prevention and interception towards clinical trials.

Listen to pronunciation. (ad-VANST KAN-ser) A term that is often used to describe cancer that is unlikely to be cured.

Fatigue from chemotherapy (chemo fatigue).

Chemotherapy destroys healthy cells while treating cancer cells, causing you to feel fatigued. Some people feel the most tired after each chemotherapy treatment, whereas others may have worse fatigue halfway through their course of treatment.