Testicular Cancer Glossary of Terms

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Abdomen: The belly, that part of the body that contains all of the structures between the...

Abdominal: Relating to the abdomen, the belly, that part of the body that contains all of ...

Abdominal cavity: The cavity within the abdomen, the space between the abdominal wall and...

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

Anesthesia: Loss of feeling or awareness, as when an anesthetic is administered before sur...

Anesthetic: A substance that causes lack of feeling or awareness, dulling pain to permit s...

Atrophy: A wasting away or diminution. Muscle atrophy is a decrease in muscle mass, often ...

Benign: Not malignant. A benign tumor is one that does not invade surrounding tissue or sp...

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

Bladder: A hollow organ in the lower abdomen that stores urine. The kidneys filter waste f...

Brain: The portion of the central nervous system that is located within the skull. It func...

Breast cancer: Breast cancer is diagnosed with self- and physician-examination of the brea...

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...

Carcinoma: Cancer that begins in the skin or in tissues that line or cover body organs. Ex...

Cardiovascular: Relating to the circulatory system, which comprises the heart and blood ve...

Cardiovascular disease: Disease affecting the heart or blood vessels.

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...

Chest: The area of the body located between the neck and the abdomen. The chest contains t...

Chest X-ray: A type of X-ray commonly used to detect abnormalities in the lungs. A chest X...

Choriocarcinoma: A highly malignant tumor that arises from trophoblastic cells within the ...

Circulation: In medicine, the movement of fluid through the body in a regular or circuitou...

Cisplatin: An anticancer drug that belongs to the family of drugs called platinum compound...

Clinical trials: Trials to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of medications or medical...

Complication: In medicine, an unanticipated problem that arises following, and is a result...

Cryptorchidism: A condition in which one or both testicles fail to move from the abdomen, ...

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

Curable: Amenable to a cure, capable of being cured, to being healed and made well. From ...

Cure: 1. To heal, to make well, to restore to good health. 2. A time withou...

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

Diarrhea: A common condition that involves unusually frequent and liquid bowel movements. ...

Diethylstilbestrol: The earliest synthetic form of the female hormone estrogen. Abbreviate...

Dissection: The process of cutting apart or separating tissue as, for example, in the stud...

Duct: A walled passageway, such as a lymph duct, that carries fluid from one place to anot...

Dysfunction: Difficult function or abnormal function.

Ejaculation: Ejection of sperm and seminal fluid during an orgasm in a male.

Ejaculatory duct: A canal in the male formed by union of the vas deferens and the duct fro...

Embryonal carcinoma: A malignant germ cell tumor that occurs most often in the testes and ...

Emergency department: The department of a hospital responsible for the provision of medica...

Epididymis: A structure within the scrotum that is attached to the back side of the testis...

Essential: In medicine, of unknown cause, as in essential hypertension (high blood pressur...

Estrogen: A female steroid hormone that is produced by the ovaries and, in lesser amounts,...

Father: (1) The male parent. (2) One who originates. For example, "Wilhelm Roentgen is con...

Fertility: The ability to conceive and bear children, the ability to become pregnant throu...

Fetus: An unborn offspring, from the embryo stage (the end of the eighth week after concep...

Germ: 1. A cell or group of cells (called a primordium) capable of developing into ...

Germ cell: Either the egg or the sperm cell; a reproductive cell. Each mature germ cell is...

Gonadotropin: Hormones that are secreted by the pituitary gland, and that affect the func...

Groin: The area where the thigh meets the hip.

HIV: Acronym for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, the cause of AIDS (acquired immunodefi...

Human chorionic gonadotropin: (hCG) A human hormone made by chorionic cells in the fetal ...

Incidence: The frequency with which something, such as a disease or trait, appears in a pa...

Incision: A cut through skin or other tissue performed by a health care professional.

Indicate: In medicine, to make a treatment or procedure advisable because of a particular ...

Infant: A young baby, from birth to 12 months of age.

Infection: The invasion and multiplication of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, an...

Infertility: Diminished or absent ability to conceive and bear offspring. A couple is cons...

Inguinal: Having to do with the groin.

Injury: Harm or hurt. To harm, hurt, or wound. The word injure may be in physical or emot...

Kidney: One of a pair of organs located in the right and left side of the abdomen. The kid...

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

LDH: Lactate dehydrogenase.

Leg: In popular usage, the part of the body from the top of the thigh down to the foot, an...

Libido: 1. Sexual drive. 2. In psychoanalysis, the psychic energy from all ...

Liver: The largest solid organ in the body, situated in the upper part of the abdomen on t...

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

Lymph: The almost colorless fluid that travels through the lymphatic system, carrying cell...

Lymph node: One of many small, bean-shaped organs located throughout the lymphatic system....

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

Marker: A piece of DNA that lies on a chromosome so close to a gene that the marker and t...

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

Microscopic: So small it cannot be seen without the aid of microscope. As opposed to macro...

Mumps: An acute (sudden, shortlived) viral illness that usually presents with inflammation...

Nausea: Stomach queasiness, the urge to vomit. Nausea can be brought on by many causes, in...

Nerve: A bundle of fibers that uses electrical and chemical signals to transmit sensory an...

Node: Literally a knot, a node is a collection of tissue. For example a lymph node, is a ...

Nonseminoma: A type of testicular cancer that arises in specialized sex cells called germ ...

Oncologist: A physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. After a ...

Oncology: The field of medicine that is devoted to cancer. Clinical oncology consists of t...

Operation: In medicine, a surgical procedure. Many operations are named after persons. The...

Orchiectomy: Orchidectomy.

Organ: A relatively independent part of the body that carries out one or more special func...

Orgasm: A series of muscle contractions in the genital region that is accompanied by sudde...

Oxygen: The odorless gas that is present in the air and necessary to maintain life. Oxygen...

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

Pathologic: 1. Indicative of or caused by disease, as in a pathologic fracture, pat...

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...

Penis: The external male sex organ. The penis contains two chambers, the corpora cavernosa...

Pharmacy: A location where prescription medications are sold. A pharmacy is constantly sup...

PNET: Primitive neuroectodermal tumor. One of a remarkable group of tumors that originate ...

Pregnancy: The state of carrying a developing embryo or fetus within the female body. Thi...

Probe: (1) In surgery, a probe is a slender flexible rod with a blunt end used to e...

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 oncologist: A physician whose specialty is the use of radiation therapy as a tre...

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

Recur: To occur again; to return. For example, a symptom, sign, or disease can recur.

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

Recurrent: Appearing or occurring again. For example, a recurrent fever is a fever that ha...

Referral: The recommendation of a medical or paramedical professional. If you get a refer...

Reproduction: The production of offspring. Reproduction need not be sexual; for example, y...

Residual: Something left behind. With residual disease, the disease has not been eradicate...

Rule out: Term used in medicine, meaning to eliminate or exclude something from considera...

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

Scrotum: The pouch of skin that contains the testes, epididymides, and lower portions of t...

Semen: The fluid that is released through the penis during orgasm. Semen is made up of flu...

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

Serum: The clear liquid that can be separated from clotted blood. Serum differs from plas...

Sperm: A sperm is the male "gamete" or sex cell. It combines with the female &qu...

Spermatic cord: A group of structures that go through the inguinal canal to the testis. Th...

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 ...

Stem cell: One of the human body's master cells, with the ability to grow into any one of ...

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...

Teratoma: A type of germ cell tumor that may contain several different types of tissue and...

Testes: Plural of testis.

Testicles: The testicles (also called testes or gonads) are the male sex glands. They are ...

Testicular cancer: A malignant tumor of the male sex organ (testicle) that normally produc...

Testicular self-examination: A monthly procedure for detecting the early signs of testic...

Testis: The male sex gland, located behind the penis in a pouch of skin called the scrotum...

Testosterone: A "male hormone" -- a sex hormone produced by the testes that encourages th...

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

Transplant: The grafting of a tissue from one place to another, just as in botany a bu...

Trauma: A physical or emotional injury.

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

Tumor marker: A substance that can be detected in higher-than-normal amounts in the blood,...

Ultrasound: High-frequency sound waves. Ultra-sound waves can be bounced off tissues by us...

Urinary: Having to do with the function or anatomy of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, or ur...

Urinary tract: The organs of the body that produce, store, and discharge urine. These orga...

Urine: Liquid waste produced by the kidneys. Urine is a clear, transparent fluid that norm...

Urologist: A physician who specializes in diseases of the urinary organs in females and th...

Vas deferens: The tube that connects the testes with the urethra. The vas deferens is a co...

Watchful waiting: Closely monitoring a patient's condition but withholding therapy until t...

Womb: The womb (uterus) is a hollow, pear-shaped organ located in a woman's lower abdomen ...

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

Yolk sac: Not all yolk has to do with birds' eggs. Human embryos have a yolk sac, too. The...