What these words mean

Click or tap on the letters below to go to that part of the alphabet.

A-B – C – D-H – I-L – M-N – O-P – R – S – T-Z

A-B

Anaesthetic

A medicine that makes someone go into a special type of sleep so they don’t feel pain when they have an operation. A local anaesthetic just numbs one part of the body.

Benign

A lump on the body that isn’t dangerous.

Biopsy

A test to diagnose cancer. The doctor takes cells in the body and looks at them under a microscope to see if they’re healthy or not.

Blood count

A test that checks how healthy the blood is.

C

Cancer

A disease that happens when bad cells stop the good cells from doing their job. These bad cells can grow into a lump and can spread to other parts of the body.

Cells

The body is made up of billions of tiny things called cells, and each has a job to make your body work and stay healthy.

Chemotherapy

Special medicine that kills the cancer cells.

Child life therapist 

A health professional who helps children manage the stress and anxiety of being in hospital using play and other strategies. May also be called a play therapist.

CT scan

A test that uses x-rays to create pictures of the body so doctors can see if there is cancer inside.

D-H

Diagnosis

When the doctor works out what disease someone has.

Dietitian

Someone who helps people work out the healthiest foods to eat.

Donor

A person who gives blood or another part of their body to someone else.

Haematologist

A doctor who knows how to help people whose blood or bones are affected by cancer.

Hormone therapy

A medicine that’s used when the cancer grows in response to the body’s natural hormones.

Hospice

A special hospital for people who may be coming to the end of their life

I-L

Immune system

The part of the body that helps defend the body against germs. It helps fight illness if somebody does get sick.

Immunocompromised

When someone gets sick very easily.

Immunotherapy

A treatment that helps the body fight cancer.intravenous (IV) Injected into a vein.

Leukaemia

A type of cancer that starts in the blood.

Lymph nodes

Filters that remove germs that could harm you. Sometimes, the germs can make some of the lymph nodes swell.

M-N

Maintenance treatment

When someone is given medicine for a long time to help keep the cancer away.

Malignant

Another word for cancer. Cells that are malignant can spread to other parts of the body.

Medical oncologist

A special doctor who uses strong medicine to treat people with cancer.

Metastasis (advanced cancer)

When the cancer cells have spread to another part of the body. Also known as secondary cancer.

MRI scan

A way to take pictures of the inside of a person’s body using a large, noisy machine.

Nausea

Feeling as if you’re going to vomit. Nausea is a common side effect of chemotherapy.

O-P

Occupational therapist

Someone who helps people work out how to do things for themselves again after they have been sick.

Palliative treatment

Treatment that reduces or stops symptoms of cancer but doesn’t try to cure the cancer.

PET scan

A way of taking pictures of the inside of a person’s body. The person is given an injection with a special liquid that shows up in the pictures and helps the doctors find cancer.

Physiotherapist

Someone who helps a person’s body get stronger after they have been sick.

Prognosis

What the doctors think might happen after cancer treatment, and someone’s chance of getting better.

Psychologist

Someone who helps people who are worried or sad with their thinking and feelings.

R

Radiation oncologist

A doctor who uses x-rays to kill cancer cells and make the cancer smaller.

Radiation therapy

Invisible beams called x-rays that go into the body to kill cancer cells and make the cancer smaller. This is different to when you get x-rayed to see inside your body (e.g. for a broken arm).

Recurrence/relapse

When cancer comes back after a period of improvement.

Remission

When cancer goes away after treatment. Remission may not mean that cancer is cured, but that it is now under control.

S

Side effects

When a person has problems such as feeling tired or losing their hair after treatment. Some people might not feel like eating and may look different. Most side effects go away after some time. This is because treatment damages some healthy cells as well as the cancer cells.

Stage

How large the cancer is and whether it has spread from the original site to other parts of the body.

Stem cell transplant

Stem cells are cells that make new blood in our bodies. Having strong medicine can destroy stem cells. The person is given new stem cells from bone marrow or blood to make them healthy again.

Surgery

An operation to remove the cancer. A doctor called a surgeon cuts out the cancer and sometimes large parts of the body, such as a breast or the bladder, will also be removed along with the cancer.

T-Z

Targeted therapy

Special medicine that damages or kills some cancer cells, but doesn’t harm healthy cells.

Tumour

A lump in the body that shouldn’t be there. Tumours can be benign (not cancer) or malignant (cancer).

Ultrasound

A test that uses soundwaves to create a picture of part of the body, and lets doctors look inside the body so they can work out if anything is wrong. 

X-ray

A test that takes pictures of the inside of the body using high-energy waves.