NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms (2024)

FAQs

What is the NCI definition of cancer? ›

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is the federal government's principal agency for cancer research and training. Established under the National Cancer Institute Act of 1937, NCI is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), one of 11 agencies that make up the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The NCI Dictionary of Genetics Terms contains technical definitions for 242 terms related to genetics. These definitions were developed by the PDQ® Cancer Genetics Editorial Board to support the evidence-based, peer-reviewed PDQ cancer genetics information summaries.

Terms related to cancer types

Tumor – any abnormal swelling, lump or mass. Neoplasm – this is the medical term for cancer and means "new growth". Benign neoplasm, or benign tumors - a cancer that is not likely to spread, and is contained within one region of the body.

The NCI Drug Dictionary contains technical definitions and synonyms for drugs/agents used to treat patients with cancer or conditions related to cancer. Each drug entry includes links to check for clinical trials listed in NCI's List of Cancer Clinical Trials.

Three designations are recognized: Comprehensive Cancer Centers, Clinical Cancer Centers, and Basic Laboratory Cancer Centers.

One who remains alive and continues to function during and after overcoming a serious hardship or life-threatening disease. In cancer, a person is considered to be a survivor from the time of diagnosis until the end of life.

The NCI Metathesaurus (NCIm) is a comprehensive biomedical terminology database that provides a broad, concept-based mapping of terms from over 101 biomedical terminologies, with 7,500,000 terms mapped to 3,200,000 concepts representing their shared meanings. NCI uses many terminologies from NCIm.

The Molecular Basis of Heredity

One of the most interesting discoveries of molecular biology is the near- universal nature of the genetic code. Although some organisms show slight variations in the amino acids assigned to particular codons, the code is always read three bases at a time and in the same direction.

​Genetic Code

Each gene's code uses the four nucleotide bases of DNA: adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G) and thymine (T) — in various ways to spell out three-letter “codons” that specify which amino acid is needed at each position within a protein.

Cancers are usually named using -carcinoma, -sarcoma or -blastoma as a suffix, with the Latin or Greek word for the organ or tissue of origin as the root.

What is the old term for cancer? ›

Hippocrates ( c. 460 BC – c. 370 BC) described several kinds of cancer, referring to them by the term καρκινος (carcinos), the Greek word for 'crab' or 'crayfish', as well as carcinoma.

Some cancers also have a stage 0, which is often called carcinoma in situ. This means the cancer is still only in the layer of cells where it first started, and it has not spread any farther.

National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health.

The English nominative and infinitive pattern (NCI), consisting of a passive utterance, cognition or perception verb followed by a to-infinitive, is the formal realization of at least three form-meaning pairings (or “constructions”). One of these is simply an instantiation of the passive construction.

/ˌkloʊzəˈpin/ Definitions of clozapine. noun. an antipsychotic drug (trade name Clozaril) used as a sedative and for treatment-resistant schizophrenia; know to have few side effects. synonyms: Clozaril.

The Definition of Cancer

Cancer is a disease in which some of the body's cells grow uncontrollably and spread to other parts of the body.

(KLIH-nih-kul REE-serch) Research in which people, or data or samples of tissue from people, are studied to understand health and disease. Clinical research helps find new and better ways to detect, diagnose, treat, and prevent disease.

In carcinoma of unknown primary, the cancer cells that spread to other parts of the body are found. But the original tumor isn't found. This can happen if: The original cancer is too small to be detected by imaging tests.

The premise of the NCI method is that usual intake is equal to the probability of consumption on a given day times the average amount consumed on a "consumption day." The exact methods used for dietary components that are consumed nearly every day by nearly everyone differ slightly from those used for dietary ...