Cancer Definitions

adenocarcinoma -
Cancer that begins in cells that line certain internal organs and that have gland-like (secretory)
properties.

Cancer -
A term for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control and can invade other
tissues. Cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body through the blood and lymph
systems

chemotherapy -
Treatment with drugs that kill cancer cells.

lung cancer -
Cancer that forms in tissues of the lung, usually in the cells lining air passages. The two main
types are small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. These types are diagnosed based
on how the cells look under a microscope.

lung metastasis -
Cancer that has spread from the original (primary) tumor to the lung.

non-small cell lung cancer -
A group of lung cancers that are named for the kinds of cells found in the cancer and how the
cells look under a microscope. The three main types of non-small cell lung cancer are squamous
cell carcinoma, large cell carcinoma, and adenocarcinoma. Non-small cell lung cancer is the most
common kind of lung cancer.

oncologist -
A doctor who specializes in treating cancer. Some oncologists specialize in a particular type of
cancer treatment. For example, a radiation oncologist specializes in treating cancer with radiation.

radiation -
Energy released in the form of particle or electromagnetic waves. Common sources of radiation
include radon gas, cosmic rays from outer space, medical x-rays, and energy given off by a
radioisotope (unstable form of a chemical element that releases radiation as it breaks down and
becomes more stable).

Other definitions at: http://www.cancer.gov/dictionary/

How many stages of cancer are there?

It depends on which cancer you are talking about and which staging system the doctor is using.
Some types of cancer have more than one type of staging system.

Most types of cancer have 4 stages. Often doctors write the stage down in roman numerals. So
you may see stage 4 written down as stage IV.

Here is a brief summary of what the stages mean for most types of cancer

• Stage 1 usually means a cancer is relatively small and contained within the organ it
  started in
• Stage 2 usually means the cancer has not started to spread into surrounding tissue, but the
  tumour is larger than in stage 1. Sometimes stage 2 means that cancer cells have spread
  into lymph nodes close to the tumour
• Stage 3 usually means the cancer is larger. It may have started to spread into surrounding
  tissues and there are cancer cells in the lymph nodes in the area
• Stage 4 means the cancer has spread from where it started to another body organ – this is
  also called secondary or metastatic cancer

What staging is

Staging is a way of describing the size of a tumour and how far it has grown. When doctors first
diagnose a cancer, they carry out tests to investigate the extent of the cancer locally and to see
whether it has spread to another part of the body from where it started.

Why staging is important

Staging is important because it usually tells the specialist whichreatments you need. If a cancer is
just in one place, then a local treatment such as surgery or radiotherapy could be enough to get rid
of it completely. A local treatment treats only one area of the body.

If a cancer has spread, then local treatment alone will not be enough. A ‘systemic’ treatment will
be needed as well. Systemic means treating the whole body. Chemotherapy and hormone
therapy are systemic treatments because they circulate throughout the body in the bloodstream.
Sometimes doctors aren’t sure if a cancer has spread to another part of the body or not. They look
at the lymph nodes near to the cancer. If there are cancer cells in these nodes, it is a sign that the
cancer has begun to spread. Cancer doctors call this ‘positive lymph nodes’. The cells have
broken away from the original tumour and got trapped in the lymph nodes. But we can’t always
tell if they’ve got any further. In this situation, doctors usually suggest ‘adjuvant’ treatment. This
means treatment alongside the treatment for the main primary tumour. The aim is to kill any
cancer cells that have broken away from the primary tumour.

Stage Definition

• Stage 0 – Carcinoma in situ (early cancer that is present only in the
  layer of cells in which it began).
• Stage I, Stage II, and Stage III – Higher numbers indicate more extensive disease: greater
  tumor size, and/or spread of the cancer to nearby lymph
  nodes and/or organs adjacent to the primary tumor.
• Stage IV – The cancer has spread to another organ.

Defining Cancer

Cancer is a term used for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control and are able to
invade other tissues. Cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body through the blood
and lymph systems.

Cancer is not just one disease but many diseases. There are more than 100 different types of
cancer. Most cancers are named for the organ or type of cell in which they start – for example,
cancer that begins in the colon is called colon cancer; cancer that begins in basal cells of the skin
is called basal cell carcinoma.

Origins of Cancer

All cancers begin in cells, the body’s basic unit of life. To understand cancer, it’s helpful to know
what happens when normal cells become cancer cells.

The body is made up of many types of cells. These cells grow and divide in a controlled way to
produce more cells as they are needed to keep the body healthy. When cells become old or
damaged, they die and are replaced with new cells.

However, sometimes this orderly process goes wrong. The genetic material (DNA) of a cell can
become damaged or changed, producing mutations that affect normal cell growth and division.
When this happens, cells do not die when they should and new cells form when the body does not
need them. The extra cells may form a mass of tissue called a tumor.

Not all tumors are cancerous; tumors can be benign or malignant.

• Benign tumors aren’t cancerous. They can often be removed, and, in most cases, they do
  not come back. Cells in benign tumors do not spread to other parts of the body.
• Malignant tumors are cancerous. Cells in these tumors can invade nearby tissues and
  spread to other parts of the body. The spread of cancer from one part of the body to another
  is called metastasis.

Some cancers do not form tumors. For example, leukemia is a cancer of the bone marrow and
blood.

Cancer Statistics

A new report from the nation’s leading cancer organizations shows that, for the first time since the
report was first issued in 1998, both incidence and death rates for all cancers combined are
decreasing for both men and women, driven largely by declines in some of the most common
types of cancer. (Read more about the Annual Report.)

Estimated new cases and deaths from cancer in the United States in 2009:

• New cases: 1,479,350 (does not include nonmelanoma skin cancers)
• Deaths: 562,340

NCI’s Cancer Stat Fact Sheets provide frequently requested cancer statistics for a number of
cancer types.

Most Americans Do Not Know When or How Often To Get Cancer Screening Tests

While most Americans know that mammograms, pap smears, and colonoscopies are screening
exams for cancer, the majority of Americans do not know the appropriate age at which initiation
of these tests is recommended, according to the latest brief from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). HINTS is a nationally representative telephone survey of the general population that was first
conducted in 2002-2003 and repeated in 2005. The National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the
National Institutes of Health, developed HINTS to evaluate how the general public accesses and
uses information about cancer, and how this information can be delivered most effectively.

“We must significantly increase our efforts to inform all Americans of what cancer screening
tests are available so that we can catch cancer in its earliest stages when it is most treatable,” said
NCI Acting Director John E. Niederhuber, M.D. “We need to get into communities with a
renewed education effort.”

A recent analysis of HINTS 2005 data found that 57 percent of American women are unaware
that they should receive mammograms to screen for breast cancer beginning at age 40. The
survey also revealed more positive results: three-quarters of women reported that their health care
providers had recommended mammograms, and 74 percent reported having received a
mammogram within the recommended timeframe.

cervical cancer; current general guidelines advise women to get Pap tests at least once every three
years. A large proportion of women — 87 percent of those who had ever received a Pap test — said
they did so as part of an annual exam. Another finding was that 61 percent of women surveyed
had never heard of human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes most cases of cervical cancer.
While there are several different tests available to screen for colorectal cancer, including fecal
occult blood tests (FOBT), sigmoidoscopy, and colonoscopy, 40 percent of HINTS respondents
could not name one when asked. However, 54 percent did know that screening for colorectal
cancer is recommended for men and women age 50 or older, according to general
recommendations. Knowledge of different screening options is important; research shows that
being offered a choice may improve the chance that people get screened and that they continue to
get screened as recommended.

For the screening tests surveyed, knowledge of screening recommendations varied by race and
ethnicity. When asked when screening for colorectal cancer is recommended, 79 percent of
Hispanic respondents did not know the recommended age, compared to 75 percent of African
Americans, 70 percent of American Indians/Alaskan Natives, and 38 percent of Whites. Similar
levels of misinformation were reported among women of all ethnicities who were asked when it
is recommended that they should begin to receive mammograms, with only 32 percent of all
women responding that mammograms should begin at age 40. The U.S. Preventive Services Task
Force recommends screening mammography, with or without a clinical breast exam, every one to
two years for women age 40 and older.

For more information about the Health Information National Trend Survey, go
tohttp://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/hints.

For more information about cancer, please visit the NCI Web site at http://www.cancer.gov, or
call NCI’s Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4 CANCER (1-800-422-6237).