There are new terms to learn and understand, new acronyms to memorize, and more. Here Dr. Toufic Kachaamy, Chief of Medicine and Director of Gastroenterology at City of Hope, Phoenix, and a member of the Colon Cancer Coalition Medical Advisory Council, summarizes a few of the new terms you’ll hear and we add some additional terms as well.
Acute: Symptoms that don’t last long, but begin and get worse in a short period of time.
Benign: (Pronounced buh-nine) Non-cancerous.
Biomarker: Sometimes called “tumor markers,” this is something in your body that can be measured to show the condition of a disease, including genes and certain proteins. Biomarkers are useful for diagnosis and treatment of cancers.
Biopsy: Removal of tissue, typically by surgery. The tissue is then tested for cancer.
Cachexia: (Pronounced ka-kek-see-uh) Weight loss and muscle loss from chronic illness.
Cancer Statistics: Data that give a general picture of the success rate of different treatments. An average can be helpful, but will never predict your own response to a treatment.
Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA): (Pronounced car-si-no-em-bree-on-ic an-teh-jin) CEA is a protein that is a type of biomarker. Adults without cancer will have very low CEA levels. Colorectal cancer will cause CEA levels to elevate, and CEA testing can show more about your cancer and is often used with other tests to determine if cancer treatment is working.
Chronic: A disease that lasts over a long time.
CRC: Short for colorectal cancer. The reason we say colorectal cancer instead of colon cancer is because it is an umbrella term for cancers affecting the large intestine and rectum.
Colon: Also known as the large intestine, the colon is a digestive organ. It removes water from your food and moves waste to your rectum, where it exits your body. The colon has a few sections:
Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP): (Pronounced fuh-mil-ee-al ad-eh-no-ma-tus paw-lee-po-sis) Rare genetic condition where polyps develop in the large intestine that are precancerous, which increases the risk of cancer. Preventative surgery is the typical treatment.
Genetic Testing: Medical tests that look at your DNA for specific markers in genes, chromosomes, or proteins that can show a potential likelihood of disease. Genetic testing can determine if you are a “carrier” of a disease, or if it runs in your family.
Imaging Test: Medical technology that creates pictures of internal body parts. Common ones are MRI, PET, and CT scans.
Laboratory Test: A test of blood, urine, saliva, or other sample used to make a diagnosis, plan treatment, or check whether a treatment is working.
Lynch Syndrome (HNPCC): A genetic condition that increases a person’s risk of developing colorectal cancer and other cancers by 80%.
Malignant: Containing cancer.
Metastatic Colorectal Cancer (MCRC): Colorectal cancer that has spread to other organs.
Metastasis: The spread of cancer from the place where it started to another organ or body part. Cancer cells can break away from the primary tumor and travel through blood or the lymphatic system (part of your immune system) to the lymph nodes, brain, lungs, bones, liver, and other organs.
NED: A test result that means “no evidence of disease” or, cancer-free.
Polyp: (Pronounced paw-lip) A small, common growth in the wall of the colon that may develop into cancer. Polyps are often removed during a screening colonoscopy. Most polyps take over 10 years to grow, and only 5-10% will actually turn cancerous. Polyps are either neoplastic or non-neoplastic. Neoplastic polyps can develop into cancer and should be removed during a colonoscopy. Non-neoplastic polyps cannot develop into cancer. There are different kinds of polyps, identified by the shape they grow in and how likely they are to become cancerous. Learn more about different kinds of polyps here.
Prognosis: Your doctor’s best assessment of the outlook of your cancer. It’s affected by things like your age, any other diseases you have, and treatment options.
Recurrence: When cancer returns after treatment.
Response to Treatment: How your body is reacting to a treatment.
Rectum: The final part of the digestive system where food waste (feces) is stored in your body before it exits your body during a bowel movement. Rectal refers to things relating to the rectum (eg: rectal exam).
Secondary Cancer: Either a new “primary” cancer (a different type of cancer) or cancer that has spread to other parts of the body.
Stage: A way to describe where cancer is located, where or if it has spread, and whether it’s affecting other functions of your body.
Survival: The statistical likelihood that a patient will survive a specific period of time, usually given in percentages. For example, localized colon cancer 5-year survival is over 90%, which means that 9 out of 10 people with localized colon cancer live more than 5 years after diagnosis.
Survivor: All people who have been diagnosed with colorectal cancer, no matter where they are in their experience with cancer.
Looking for more definitions of other cancer words? Use the National Institute of Health’s Dictionary of Cancer Terms.
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