Glossary

• Adjuvant Therapy: A treatment method used in addition to the primary therapy. Radiation therapy is often used as an adjuvant to surgery.
• Alopecia: Hair loss. This often occurs as a result of chemotherapy or radiation therapy to the head.
• Antiemetic: A medicine to prevent or relieve nausea or vomiting.
• Benign: Not cancerous; does not invade nearby tissue or spread to other parts of the body.
• Biological Therapy: Treatment with substances called biological response modifiers that can stimulate the immune system to fight disease more effectively. Also called immunotherapy.
• Biopsy: The removal of a sample of tissue for examination under a microscope to check for cancer cells.
• Bone Scan: An imaging method that gives important information about the growth and health of bones, including the location of cancer that may have spread to the bones. It can be done as an outpatient procedure and is painless, except for the needle stick when a low-dose radioactive dye is injected into a vein.  Images are taken to see where the dye accumulates, indicating an abnormality.
• Brachytherapy: Internal radiation treatment achieved by implanting radioactive material directly into the tumor or very close to it. Sometimes called "internal or interstitial radiation therapy."
• Cancer: A term for more than 100 diseases in which abnormal cells grow out of control.
• Catheter: A thin, flexible tube through which fluids enter or leave the body.
• Chemotherapy: Treatment with anticancer drugs.
• Contrast media: A substance used during an X-ray to provide a contrast to view a tissue or organ
• CT (CAT) Scan: An X-ray procedure using a computer to produce detailed pictures of areas inside the body.
• CT Simulator: A machine that simulates the radiation treatment machine to help identify the exact area of the body to be treated with radiation.
• Dietitian: An individual whose training and experience is in the area of nutrition, and who has the ability to apply this information to the regulation of diet in the healthy and sick.
• Dosimetrist: Develops individual treatment plans for each patient by using patient data from simulation and manual and computer calculations.
• Dysuria: Painful or difficult urination.
• Edema: Swelling; an abnormal buildup of fluid.
• Electron Beam: A stream of particles that produce high-energy radiation to treat cancer close to the surface.
• Erythema: Redness over the skin.
• Erythrocytes: Cells that carry oxygen to all parts of the body. Also called red blood cells (RBC).
• External Radiation: Use of a machine to aim high-energy rays at cancer.
• High-Dose Rate Remote Radiation Therapy: A type of internal radiation in which each treatment is given in a few minutes while the radioactive source is inside the body. The source of radioactivity is removed after treatments.
• Hyperfractionated Radiation: Division of the total dose of radiation into smaller doses that are given twice a day.
• Hyperthermia: Treatment that involves heating a tumor.
• Immune System: The complex group of organs and cells that defends the body against infection or disease.
• Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT): Computer controlled treatment that allows a radiation dose to be designed and delivered that spare critical organs and tissue, while giving high doses to tumors.
• Internal Radiation: A type of therapy in which a radioactive substance is implanted into or close to the area needing treatment.
• Interstitial Radiation: A radioactive source (implant) placed directly into the tissue (not in a body cavity).
• Intracavitary Radiation: A radioactive source (implant) placed in a body cavity such as the chest cavity or the vagina.
• Linear Accelerator: A machine that creates high-energy radiation to treat cancers, using electricity to form a stream of fast-moving subatomic particles. Also called mega-voltage linear accelerator or a linac.
• Malignant: Cancerous; can spread to other parts of the body.
• Medical Physicist: Supervises dosimetrists and assures that all treatment planning calculations are performed correctly. Participates in the planning of complex treatments.  Oversees the quality assurance of the treatment delivery and planning systems.
• Metastasis: The spread of cancer from one part of the body to another. Cells that have metastasized are like those in the original (primary) tumor.
• MRI: A machine using a magnet linked to a computer to create pictures of areas inside the body. Also called magnetic resonance imaging.
• Myelogram: An X-ray of the spinal cord and the bones of the spine.
• Nutritionist: A registered dietitian who can help you with nutritional concerns and questions.
• Oncologist: A doctor who specializes in treating cancer. Some oncologists specialize in a particular type of cancer treatment.
• Photons: High energy X-rays used to treat tumors.
• Pneumonitis: Inflammation of the lung.
• Prognosis: The probable outcome or course of a disease.
• Radiation Oncologist: A medical doctor certified in radiation oncology who oversees your care.
• Radiation Therapist: A health care professional who is certified in administering the radiation therapy treatments prescribed by your physicians.
• Radiation Therapy: Treatment with high-energy rays (such as X-rays) to kill cancer cells. The radiation may come from outside the body (external radiation) or from radioactive materials placed directly in the tumor (implant radiation).
• Radiosensitizers: Drugs that make cells more sensitive to radiation.
• Recur:  To occur again. Recurrence is the reappearance of cancer cells at the same site or in another location.
• Resident Physician: A licensed medical doctor pursuing specialization in radiation therapy.  This person is involved in your day-to-day care under the direct supervision of your attending radiation oncologist.
• Risk Factor: Something that increases a person's chances of getting a disease.
• Simulation: A process involving special X-ray pictures that are used to plan radiation treatment so that the area to be treated is precisely located and marked for treatment.
• Social Worker: A licensed professional who can help with emotional support, transportation and financial concerns.
• Stereotaxis: Use of a computer and scanning devices to create 3-dimensional pictures. This method can be used to direct a biopsy, external radiation or the insertion of radiation
• Stereotactic Radiosurgery: A technique used to treat various brain diseases by concentrating radiation very accurately within a small volume of the brain
• Steroids: Drugs used to relieve swelling and inflammation.
• Tumor: An abnormal mass of tissue.
• X-ray: A form of radiation. It is used with low energy in low doses to diagnose diseases and with high energy (called photons) in high doses to treat cancer.