Bone Cancer Glossary of Terms

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Abnormal: Outside the expected norm, or uncharacteristic of a particular patient.

Amputation: Removal of part or all of a body part that is enclosed by skin. Amputation can...

Anemia: The condition of having a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells or quantity ...

Arms: An appendage in anatomy and in clinical trials. See: Arm.

Biopsy: The removal of a sample of tissue for examination under a microscope to check for ...

Bone cancer: A malignancy of bone. Primary bone cancer (cancer that begins in bone) is rar...

Bone scan: A nuclear medicine technique for creating images of bones on a computer screen ...

Cancer: An abnormal growth of cells which tend to proliferate in an uncontrolled way and, ...

Cancer causes: In most individual cases of cancer, the exact cause of cancer is unknown. T...

Cancer symptoms: Abnormal sensations or conditions that persons can notice that are a resu...

Cartilage: Firm, rubbery tissue that cushions bones at joints. A flexible kind of cartilag...

Cell: The basic structural and functional unit of any living thing. Each cell is a small c...

Chemotherapy: 1. In the original sense, a chemical that binds to and specifically k...

Chills: feelings of coldness accompanied by shivering. Chills may develop after exposure t...

Chondrosarcoma: A malignant tumor that forms in cartilage cells (chondroplasts) and that p...

Chordoma: A benign tumor, usually in the lower back, that originates from cells destined t...

Computed tomography: An x-ray procedure that uses the help of a computer to produce a deta...

Contrast: Short for "contrast media." Contrast media are X-ray dyes used to provide contra...

CT scan: Computerized tomography scan. Pictures of structures within the body created by a...

Diagnosis: 1 The nature of a disease; the identification of an illness. 2 A ...

DNA: Deoxyribonucleic acid. One of two types of molecules that encode genetic information...

Family history: The family structure and relationships within the family, including inform...

Fibrosarcoma: A malignant tumor consisting of fibroblasts (connective tissue cells that pr...

Fracture: A break in bone or cartilage. Although usually a result of trauma, a fracture ca...

Glucose: The simple sugar that is the chief source of energy. Glucose is found in the bloo...

Knee: The knee is a joint which has three parts. The thigh bone (the femur) meets the lar...

Laboratory: A place for doing tests and research procedures, and for preparing chemicals a...

Lactate dehydrogenase: (LDH) An enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of lactate to pyruvat...

Limb: An arm or a leg.

Lungs: The lungs are a pair of breathing organs located with the chest which remove carbon...

Lymphatic: Pertaining to a small, thin channel that is similar to a blood vessel and that ...

Lymphatic system: The tissues and organs, including the bone marrow, spleen, thymus, and l...

Malignant: 1. Tending to be severe and become progressively worse, as in malignant ...

Medical history: 1. In clinical medicine, the patient's past and present which may ...

Metastasis: 1. The process by which cancer spreads from the place at which it firs...

Metastasize: The spread from one part of the body to another. When cancer cells metastasiz...

MRI: Magnetic resonance imaging.

Mutation: A permanent change, a structural alteration, in the DNA or RNA. In humans and m...

Operating room: A facility that is equipped for performing surgery. Abbreviated OR.

Osteosarcoma: A cancer of the bone that is most common in adolescents and young adults. Tr...

Pain: An unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pa...

Pathologist: A physician who identifies diseases and conditions by studying abnormal cells...

Pelvis: The lower part of the abdomen, located between the hip bones. Structures in the fe...

Positron emission tomography: PET. A highly specialized imaging technique that uses short-...

Prognosis: The forecast of the probable outcome or course of a disease; the patient's chan...

Radiation: 1. Rays of energy. Gamma rays and X-rays are two of the types of energy ...

Radiation therapy: The use of high-energy rays to damage cancer cells, stopping them from ...

Radioactive: Emitting energy waves due to decaying atomic nuclei. Radioactive substances a...

Recurrence: The return of a sign, symptom, or disease after a remission. The reappearance ...

Retinoblastoma: A malignant eye tumor usually seen in children, that arises in cells in th...

Rothmund-Thomson syndrome: A hereditary disease that is characterized by progressive effec...

Sarcoma: One of a group of tumors usually arising from connective tissue. Most sarcomas ar...

Scan: As a noun, the data or image obtained from the examination of organs or regions of...

Sensation: In medicine and physiology, sensation refers to the registration of an incoming...

Shoulder: A structure made up of two main bones: the scapula (shoulder blade) and the hume...

Stage: As regards cancer, the extent of a cancer, especially whether the disease has spre...

Staging: stagingDoing exams and tests to learn the extent of a cancer, especially whether ...

Surgeon: A physician who treats disease, injury, or deformity via operative or manual meth...

Surgery: The branch of medicine that employs operations in the treatment of disease or inj...

Symptom: Any subjective evidence of disease. In contrast, a sign is objective. Blood comin...

Syndrome: A combination of symptoms and signs that together represent a disease process.

Therapy: The treatment of disease. Therapy is synonymous with treatment.

Tomography: The process for generating a tomogram, a two-dimensional image of a slice or s...

Tumor: An abnormal mass of tissue. Tumors are a classic sign of inflammation, and can be ...

Weight loss: Weight loss is a decrease in body weight resulting from either voluntary (die...

X-ray: High-energy radiation with waves shorter than those of visible light. X-ray is used...