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Understanding Breast Cancer

Guide and language about

breast cancer

This resource aims to educate and empower people facing the challenges that come with a breast cancer diagnosis and raise awareness about the disease. You'll find tips to help you discuss key topics with your doctor. Easy-to-understand animations with audio narration, educational downloads and more.

Although the information you will find here is supported by the American Cancer Society, experts on the subject, and other organizations dedicated to breast cancer research, it is in no way a substitute for consultation with your doctor. You should always consult with your doctor about any questions or decisions you wish to make. At the EbeneSer Foundation we are not responsible for decisions you make based on this guide.

Understanding Vocabulary

-Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA): The chemical code of genes found in the nucleus of cells that carries hereditary information.

-Adenocarcinoma: Cancer indicating glandular tissue.

-Alopecia: In oncology it refers to hair loss suffered by chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy treatments.

-GnRH analogues: Hormone-like medications that control the production of the hormones estrogen and progesterone. GnRH stands for gonadotropin-releasing hormone.

-Anemia: Low number of red blood cells. It may lead to feelings of tiredness, weakness, or difficulty breathing.

-Angiogenesis: Development of new blood vessels, allowing cells to receive nutrients.

-Antibody: An immune system protein whose function is to bind and eliminate a foreign substance (antigen).

-Monoclonal antibodies: These bind to a specific target (antigen) in the body.

-Antiemetic: A medication given to prevent or decrease nausea and vomiting.

-Antigens: Foreign substances that induce an immune system response.

-Antioxidants: Substances that protect the body's cells from the damaging effects of free radicals, highly reactive and potentially toxic oxygen molecules.

-Areola: The area of ​​dark skin around the nipple.

-Breast self-examination: It is a method in which the woman examines her mammary glands, looking and touching in search of an abnormality, changes in color, retractions, nodules, etc.

-Benigno: Non-cancerous; It does not invade nearby tissues or spread to other parts of the body.

-Bilateral: That affects both breast.

-Complete blood count (CBC): Study to count the levels of white and red blood cells in addition to platelets.

-Biopsy: It is the removal of cells or tissues for examination by a pathologist. The pathologist may study the tissue under a microscope or subject the cells to other tests. There are many different types of biopsies. The most common types are: (1) incisional biopsy, in which only a sample of tissue is removed; (2) excisional biopsy, in which a mass or suspicious area is completely removed, and (3) needle biopsy, in which a sample of tissue is removed with a needle. When a wide needle is used, the procedure is called a core biopsy.

-BRCA1 y BRCA2: They are the genes whose mutation increases the risk of suffering from breast cancer.

Calcifications: Calcium deposits in body tissues.

-Breast cancer: Breast cancer is a disease in which breast cells multiply uncontrollably. There are different types of breast cancer. Cancer cells can also spread to other parts of the body through the bloodstream and lymphatic system.

-Hereditary cancer: Cancer caused by mutations in a gene, which can be passed from a parent to a child.

-Carcinogenic: Can cause cancer.

-Recurrent cancer: Cancer that comes back after initial treatment.

-Carcinoma ductal: Cancer located in one of the breast ducts.

-Infiltrating or invasive carcinoma: Cancer that has spread beyond the layer of tissue in which it started and has spread into nearby normal tissues.

-Carcinoma in situ: Breast cancer that is contained in the duct or lobule and has not spread outside of it.

-Carcinoma lobular: Breast cancer that develops in the breast lobules.

-Cell: It is a functional unit of our body, all organs and tissues are made of them.

-Ductal cells: Cells that line the milk ducts within the breast.

-Epithelial cells: Cells that line or cover most organs.

-Squamous cells: Flat cells that line the surface of the skin and some hollow organs of the body.

-Germ cells: Cells in an ovary or testicle that develop into eggs and sperm, respectively.

-Surgery: When related to cancer treatment, any surgical procedure to manually remove cancer.

-Flap surgery: Reconstructive surgery in which a section of tissue is taken from a part of the body, such as the abdominal wall, to design a new breast silhouette.

-Cytokines: Immune system proteins, some of which attack cancer cells directly or stimulate the body's immune system cells to help attack the cancer.

-Cytoreduction: Surgically remove as much of the cancer as possible.

-TNM classification: It is another classification system that doctors use to explain the extent of cancer spread in the body in order to determine the overall stage. T (tumor) stages: the size of the tumor in the breast. N stages (nodes): The degree of spread of the cancer to the lymph nodes near the breast. M stages (metastasis): The extent to which cancer has spread outside the breast to other parts of the body, such as the bones, liver, and lungs. The doctor combines the TNM results to obtain the overall stage. This is what the doctor usually writes down on the test forms.

-Genetic advice: Process whose purpose is to help a person who suffers from a genetic disease and/or family members at risk, to understand the characteristics and consequences of said pathology, their probability of presenting or transmitting it and the options they may have.

-Consent: Accept something, give your authorization for some procedure to be carried out.

Contrast: Substance that is introduced into the body in order to obtain clearer images when performing diagnostic tests such as x-rays or CT (Computerized Tomography).

-Palliative care: Treatment designed to provide care to terminally ill people and support services to their families.

-Axillary lymph node dissection: Surgical resection of the lymph nodes in the armpit as an attempt to remove cancerous cancer cells that may have spread from a tumor in the adjacent breast.

-Dysplasia: Precancerous process in which normal cells begin to change in size, shape, or structure.

-Duel: These are the phases that family members and friends go through when a loved one dies.

-Side effects: These are the problems that arise in parallel with therapeutic means. In breast cancer they can be important and affect the person's quality of life.

-Paget's disease of the breast: Peeling and swelling of the nipple associated with underlying breast cancer.

-Residual disease: The amount of cancer that remains after surgery.

-Clinical trial: A human research study that tests new approaches for the diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of a condition or for the relief of its symptoms.

-Estrogen: Primary female hormone. Stimulates the growth of cancer cells in hormone receptor-positive tumors.

-CA 125 blood study: Blood tumor marker that measures the level of CA 125 in the blood, CA 125 is a protein that is produced by most ovarian cancers.

-Genetic study: Study to determine if an individual is a carrier of a specific genetic mutation that confers a higher risk of developing a certain condition.

-Risk factors: Anything that increases a person's chances of developing a disease. Fibroadenoma: A benign solid tumor that almost always occurs in the breasts of women during their reproductive years.

-Lymph nodes: Small organs in the body that may indicate that cancer has spread by becoming inflamed or enlarging. They can be an important tool in evaluating the stage of cancer.

-Genome: The total DNA of a cell represents all the genetic information of a person.

-Tumor grade: A measurement of how different cancer cells look from normal cells when viewed under a microscope.

-Histology: The study of the microscopic appearance of tissue.

-Hormones: They are the body's chemical messengers, excreted by glands, and have different functions, including growth and development, metabolism, sexual function, reproduction, and mood.

-Mammograms: Mammograms are low-dose x-rays of the breast. Routine mammograms can help find breast cancer at an early stage, when treatment is most effective. A mammogram can often find years before physical symptoms occur.

-Tumor marker: Substance circulating in the blood, which is produced by a tumor, the level of the tumor marker can reflect the activity or extent of the tumor.

-Resection margin: The edge of a tissue sample that is removed during surgery.

-Positive margins: Edges of a tissue sample showing signs of cancer.

-Negative margin: The edges of a tissue sample are free of cancer.

-Mastectomy: Surgery that removes the entire breast.

-Menopause: Cessation of menstruation (generally occurs between the ages of 45 and 55).

-Metastasis: Tumors of cancerous or malignant cells that lodge in another organ other than their origin. For example, in breast cancer metastases can be to the bones, lung, liver and brain.

-Breast Nodule: It is a solid lesion, which can be benign or malignant.

-Oncologist: A doctor who specializes in the care of people with cancer.

-PET: It is a test that uses radioactive glucose to see if there are branches of the malignant tumor in other parts of the body.

-Placebo: A chemically inactive substance that can be used as part of a clinical trial to determine whether a new treatment works.

-Progesterone: Female hormone that rises in the second half of the menstrual cycle.

-Prosthesis: A replacement device specially designed for a body part that has been removed, such as a breast.

-Chemotherapy: Treatment used for different types of cancer, which helps eliminate damaged cells and prevents branches or metastases from reappearing. They are combination drugs that are administered orally or through a vein.

-Cyst: Benign nodule, which is formed like a capsule and with liquid inside. They are very common after 40 years of age.

-Radiotherapy: Treatment for cancer that is administered through a machine that emits different types of radiation, preventing the disease from returning in the same place or organ that is irradiated.

-Relapse or recurrence: When the cancer returns after a period of improvement.

-Remission: When tumors decrease in size (partial remission), in some cases to a level that cannot be detected by tests and imaging studies (complete remission).

-Magnetic Nuclear Resonance: Radiological examination that uses a contrast medium called gadolinium. When done in the mammary gland, it is used to detect tumors

-Survivor: Someone who lives with, through and beyond a breast cancer diagnosis.

-Sonomammography: Breast ultrasound is a non-invasive procedure (the skin is not pierced) used to evaluate the breasts. Ultrasound technology allows rapid visualization of breast tissue. Ultrasound can also be used to evaluate blood flow to areas within the breasts.

-Hormone therapy: Any therapy that blocks hormonal stimulation of cancer cell growth.

-Tumor: Nodule formed by cells, it can be benign or malignant.

References:

Glossary about cancer. (n.d.). https://www.cancer.org

Clinic, M. (2012). The Mayo Clinic Breast Cancer Book.

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