Angiogénèse

Physiological process by which new blood vessels develop around a tumor, allowing it to supply and grow.

antioxidant

Antioxidants are substances capable of neutralizing or reducing the damage caused by free radicals in the body. The body produces antioxidants, and they are also found in several foods. The main antioxidants are vitamins C and E, carotenoids and selenium.

Apoptosis

Phenomenon of natural cell death; at the end of their normal cycle, cells die without leaving cell debris.

Benin, benign

Qualifier to say that a physiological phenomenon (of a cancerous nature in the case which interests us) does not present – at the time of observation – any danger. However, a benign tumor can grow and reach a malignant stage.

biopsy

The removal of a small portion of human tissue (skin, mucous membrane, gland, etc.) for laboratory analysis.

Cachexie

Serious clinical form of protein-calorie malnutrition, occurring in some people with cancer, especially cancers of the digestive system. Cachexia is characterized by loss of muscle tissue and subcutaneous fatty tissue, and by a much lower than normal body weight. Between 4% and 23% of cancer-related deaths are due to cachexia.

Cancer

General term to designate all the phenomena which are characterized by an abnormal growth of cells leading to a malignant tumor.

Carcinogenic

Capable of causing or promoting the development of cancer. (We now recommend the use of carcinogenic preferably to carcinogenic.)

Carcinogenesis (we also say carcinogenèse)

Set of mechanisms that cause the formation and development of cancers. The essential mechanism of carcinogenesis is based on the activation of certain oncogenes. Several types of activation can occur, which can correspond to several stages of carcinogenesis.

Carcinoma

One of the three main types of cancer. Carcinomas develop from theepithelium (in France, a carcinoma is commonly called epithelioma); the epithelium is a nonvascularized tissue which covers the skin, the internal wall of the respiratory, digestive, urinary and genital systems, and which constitutes the main part of the glands. The most common cancers (lung, breast, stomach, skin and cervix) are carcinomas.

Chemotherapy

A type of treatment that uses chemicals that have a direct effect on diseased cells, either destroying them or preventing their proliferation. Unfortunately, the products used in chemotherapy (by injection or tablets) are likely to have a serious negative effect on certain healthy tissues. In addition, since some of these drugs are targeted to affect rapidly growing cells – such as cancer cells – they necessarily reach other rapidly growing cells, such as the bone marrow, hair follicles, intestinal mucosa and skin. mouth, hence phenomena such as hair loss.

Cytotoxic

Refers to a chemical having a poisonous effect on living cells. Cytotoxic drugs used to treat cancer are designed to affect only certain types of cells.

Epithelioma

See carcinoma.

Estrogen-receptor positive

Said of a hormone-dependent cancer in which we detect “receptors” to which estrogens bind to activate the temperature. To our knowledge, there is no French equivalent of this expression.

Hormone dependent

Refers to cancer located in tissues sensitive to natural sex hormones, such as the breast or the endometrium, and which is stimulated by these hormones.

Immunotherapy

A method of treatment that involves stimulating the functions of the immune system to fight infection and disease. This approach is also called biotherapy, biological therapy ou modification of the biological response.

On-site

Refers to strictly localized carcinomas and not presenting any invasion character. Medicine has not yet decided whether it is a particular type of cancer that will always remain localized, or whether it is cancer whose local stage can last for a very long time but which is later destined to become invasive.

Interleukin

Natural agent of the immune system which is normally deficient in cancer patients and which is often administered to them as a drug in conventional immunotherapy.

Invasive

Refers to a type of cancer liable to metastasize.

Leukemia

Disease, of which there are several variants, characterized by an overgrowth of white blood cells (leukocytes) in the bone marrow; As it is in the marrow that the main elements of the blood are formed (including red blood cells), this production is disrupted. Leukemia cells can also invade certain organs.

Lymphoma

Tumor (there are several types) caused by an overgrowth of lymphoic tissue cells, which is mostly found in the lymph nodes and spleen.

Melanoma

Tumor that develops in melanocytes, the cells that produce melanin (pigment) and found in the skin, eyes and hair. If, in general, skin cancers are not very dangerous, the melanomas that form in moles are among the most malignant cancers.

Smart, smart

A malignant tumor invades surrounding tissue to cause metastases ; it spreads through the blood or lymphatic circulation.

Metastasis

There are various kinds of metastasis (microbial, parasitic or tumor), but the term is commonly used to describe the advancement of cancer cells. In this sense, a metastasis is a secondary focus of cancer, at some distance from the original malignant tumor.

Myeloma

Tumor made up of cells in the bone marrow from which it originates.

Neoplasm

Medical term for a tumor.

Oncogene

A gene that has undergone a mutation and which, when “activated”, can stimulate the uncontrolled proliferation of cells. In most living organisms, a few genes undergo, at one time or another, this mutation which makes them oncogenes; we can therefore say that living organisms already have oncogenes in their own cells. Oncogenes can be activated by different environmental factors (ultraviolet rays, tobacco smoke, asbestos particles, viruses, etc.)

Oncology

A branch of medicine dedicated to the study and treatment of cancer; the doctors specializing in this discipline are oncologists. We also say cancerology.

Phytoestrogens

Present in certain plants, these chemical compounds are estrogens of very low potency but whose property of fixing on the estrogen receptors allows them to counteract the harmful effect of these. The two main categories are: isoflavones (mainly found in soy, licorice and red clover) and lignanes (in whole grains, especially flax, and in some fruits and vegetables).

Progesterone receptor positive

Refers to a hormone-dependent cancer in which “receptors” are detected to which progesterone binds to activate the timer. To our knowledge, there is no French equivalent of this expression.

Free radicals

Atoms which, following a normal phenomenon linked to oxygen, end up with a “free” electron; once they have reached this state, the atoms in question “oxidize” other atoms, resulting in chain reactions. It is believed that when the proliferation of free radicals exceeds the body’s ability to neutralize them, they play an important role in aging and the development of many diseases. Many scientists support the (unproven) theory that free radicals can cause cancer to appear. Antioxidants are substances capable of neutralizing or reducing the damage caused by free radicals in the body.

Radiotherapy

Type of treatment that uses ionizing radiation emitted by certain radioactive elements such as radium. When these rays pass through diseased tissue, they destroy abnormal cells or slow their development. Radiation therapy is used in several circumstances:

– as the main means of treating certain cancers;

– after a malignant tumor has been removed by surgery, to destroy the remaining cancer cells;

– as a palliative treatment, to reduce the size of an incurable cancer in order to relieve the patient.

Recurrence

The cancer reappears after a fairly long period of time during which it was in remission.

Remission

Disappearance of symptoms of a disease. In the case of cancer, we always talk about remission rather than a cure.

Sarcoma

Sarcomas develop from a blood vessel, fibrous tissue that supports organs, or connective tissue (such as cartilage). Bone cancers are sarcomas; Kaposi’s sarcoma, common in people with AIDS, mainly affects the skin.

Tumor

Abnormal mass of tissue (flesh) that results from an uncontrolled process of cell multiplication. The tumor can be benign or malignant.