BREAST CANCER GUIDE: Seeing Life Through Pink-Colored Glasses

To read Susan G. Komen’s own story, written by her sister, Nancy Brinker, please click here. Ms. Brinker is the founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Breast Cancer Vocabulary: Important Terms to Know

BRCA1 & BRCA2: Inherited human genes which, when present in a mutated (altered) form, increase a woman’s risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer.

Carcinoma in situ (CIS): Cancer cells that have not left the area where they started and have not spread to surrounding tissue or other parts of the body.

Complementary therapy: Any non-traditional cancer treatment that is used together with traditional medical cancer treatment.

Cyclical breast pain: Tenderness that varies throughout the menstrual cycle, is influenced by hormones, and is related to menstrual periods.

Fibrocystic breast changes: Non-cancerous breast condition that sometimes results in painful cysts or lumpy breasts.

Lymphedema: Swelling of the arm caused by removal of the axillary lymph nodes or by radiation therapy.

Metastasis: The spread of cancer from the location where it started to other parts of the body.

Stages of cancer: A numbering system (from zero to four) that tells doctors how advanced a specific cancer may be, in order to determine prognosis and appropriate treatment options.

Source:
Susan G. Komen for the Cure
ww5.komen.org