Word List

Abnormal cells: cells that do not look or act like the healthy cells of the body

Aggressive cancer cells: cells that are fast-growing and can spread beyond the area where they started

Anti-HER2 antibody therapy: a medicine used to treat breast cancer with abnormal HER2 genes

Aromatase inhibitor: medicine that reduces estrogen in the body (after menopause)

Axillary lymph nodes: lymph nodes under your arms

Benign: not cancerous

Biopsy: an operation to take out tissue to check if it is cancer or not

Clean margins: means that the normal tissue around the tumor is free of cancer cells

Close margins: means that cancer cells come near the outer edge of the tissue around the tumor

Colloid: a type of invasive cancer that grows into the normal tissue around it; it usually grows slowly

Comedo: a type of non-invasive cancer that usually does not spread; it tends to grow fast

Cribriform: a type of non-invasive cancer that does not spread and usually grows slowly

Ductal Carcinoma in situ (DCIS): a non-invasive cancer that stays inside the milk pipes and usually doesn't spread

ER-negative: a cancer that does not have estrogen receptors

ER-positive: a cancer that has estrogen receptors

FISH (Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization) test: a test for the HER2 gene

Gene: part of the body's code for making new cells and controlling the growth and repair of the cells

Grade: tells you how much the tumor cells look different from normal cells

HER2: a gene that helps control the growth and repair of cells

Hormone receptors: tiny areas like ears on cells that listen and respond to signals from hormones

IHC (immunohistochemistry) test: a test for the HER2 protein

In situ: a cancer that stays inside the part of the breast where it started; it usually does not spread

Invasive: a cancer that spreads beyond the place where it started

Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC): a cancer that begins in the milk duct but grows into the normal breast tissue around it

Invasive Lobular Carcinoma (ILC): a cancer that starts inside the milk-making gland, but grows into the normal breast tissue around it

Irregular cells: cells that do not look like the healthy cells of the body

Ki-67: a test that shows how fast cancer is growing

Lobular Carcinoma in situ (LCIS): cells that are not normal but that stay inside the milk-making part of the breast

Lymphatic invasion: means that cancer cells are found in the lymph vessels

Lymph nodes: filters along the lymph fluid channels; they try to catch and trap cancer cells before they reach other parts of the body

Margins: the normal tissue around the tumor that was taken out

Medullary: a type of invasive cancer that grows into the normal tissue around it

Milk ducts: tiny tubes in the breast through which milk flows to the nipple

Milk lobules: milk-making glands in the breast

Mucinous: a type of invasive cancer that spreads into the normal tissue around it

Negative margins: means that the tissue around the tumor is free of cancer cells

Non-invasive: a cancer that stays inside the breast part where it started

Papillary: a type of non-invasive cancer that does not spread and tends to grow slowly

Pathologist: a doctor who looks at tissue under a microscope to see if it's normal or affected by disease

Positive margins: means that cancer cells come up to the edge of the normal tissue around the tumor

Pre-cancerous: a tumor that is not considered a cancer; it is a warning sign that you may get cancer in the future

PR-negative: a cancer that does not have progesterone receptors

PR-positive: a cancer that has progesterone receptors

Recurrence: when a cancer comes back again

Solid: a type of cancer that is non-invasive; it does not spread and tends to grow slowly

S-phase fraction test: a test that shows how fast a cancer is growing

Tamoxifen: medicine that stops estrogen from reaching hormone receptors on cancers

Tubular: a type of invasive cancer that grows into the normal tissue around it; it usually grows slowly

Vascular invasion: means that cancer cells are found in the blood vessels