Adjuvant chemotherapy: Anticancer drugs or hormones given after surgery and/or radiation to help prevent the cancer from recurring.

Alopecia: Hair loss.

Anemia: Having too few red blood cells. Symptoms of anemia include feeling tired, weak, and short of breath.

Antiemetic: A medicine that prevents or controls nausea and vomiting.

Benign: Not malignant. Does not invade nearby tissue or spread to the other parts of the body.

Biological therapy: Treatment that uses the body's immune system to fight cancer or to lessen the side effects that may be caused by some cancer treatments. Also known as immunotherapy.

Blood cell count: The number of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets in a sample of blood. This is also called CBC.

Bone marrow: The inner, spongy tissue of bones where blood cells are made.

Cancer: A general term for more than 100 diseases that generate abnormal cell growth.

Carcinoma: Cancer that begins in the lining or covering of an organ.

Catheter: A thin, flexible tube through which fluids enter or leave the body.

Cell: The smallest unit of tissues that make up any living thing. Cells have very specialized structures and functions and are able to reproduce when needed.

Chemotherapy: Treatment with drugs to kill or slow the growth of cancer cells. It is also used to shrink tumors before surgery.

Clinical trials: Research studies in which patients help scientists find the best way to prevent, detect, diagnose, or treat diseases.

Colony Stimulating Factors: Substances that stimulate the production of blood cells. Treatment with CSF can help the blood-forming tissue recover from the effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

Erythrocytes: Red blood cells that carry oxygen from the lungs to cells in all parts of the body and carry carbon dioxide from the cells back to the lungs.

Estrogen: A female hormone. One of the hormones that can help some breast cancer tumors grow.

Gene: The basic unit of heredity found in all cells of the body.

Glands: Lymph glands.

Hematologist: Physician caring for diseases of the blood.

Hormonal therapy: The use of hormones to treat cancer patients by removing, blocking, or adding to the effects of a hormone on an organ or other part of the body.

Immune system: The body's own natural defense system against infection or disease.

Immunocompromised: A condition in which the immune system is not functioning normally.

Infusion: Slow and/or prolonged intravenous delivery of a drug or fluids.

Injection: Using a syringe and needle to push fluids or drugs into the body, often called a "shot."

Intravenous: Into a vein.

Leukocytes: White blood cells that defend the body against infection and other diseases.

Lymphedema: Swelling caused by fluid that builds up when lymph nodes are removed or damaged.

Lymph nodes: Small bean-shaped organs that are part of the lymphatic system.

Malignant: Cancerous. Capable of invading, spreading, and destroying tissue.

Metastasis: Spread of cancer from its original site to another.

Monoclonal antibody: Antibodies that are all identical, derived from a single "clone."

Neutropenia: An abnormal decrease in the number of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell.

Oncologist: A physician who diagnoses and treats patients with cancer. One who uses chemotherapy or hormonal therapy to treat cancer.

Oncology nurse: A nurse with special training in caring for cancer patients.

Palliative care: Treatment to relieve rather than cure symptoms caused by cancer to help a patient live more comfortably.

Peripheral neuropathy: A condition of the nervous system that usually begins in the hands and/or feet with symptoms of numbness, tingling, burning, and/or weakness. It can be caused by certain anticancer drugs.

Platelets: Blood cells that help stop bleeding.

Positive: Lab test result that reveals the presence of a specific disease or condition for which the test is being done.

Radiation: Treatment with high energy X-rays to kill cancer cells.

Radiation oncologist: A doctor who uses radiation therapy to treat cancer.

Red blood cells: Cells that supply oxygen to tissues throughout the body.

Remission: The partial or complete disappearance of signs and symptoms of cancer.

Staging: Classification of cancer according to its size and extent of spread.

Stem cell: The immature cells in blood and bone marrow from which all maturing blood cells develop.

Stomatitis: Pores on the lining of the mouth.

Subcutaneous: Under the skin.

Tumor: An abnormal growth of cells or tissues. Tumors may be benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous).

White blood cell: The blood cells that fight infection.