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Radiation Therapy and You
Glossary
These are words that you may hear from your health team.
- Adjuvant therapy:
- A treatment method used in addition to the primary therapy. Radiation therapy often
is used as an adjuvant to surgery.
Alopecia (al-oh-PEE-she-ah): - Hair loss.
Anesthesia: - Loss of feeling or sensation resulting from the use of certain drugs or gases.
- Antiemetic (an-tee-eh-MET-ik):
- A medicine to prevent or relieve nausea or vomiting.
- Benign tumor:
- A growth that is not a cancer and does not spread to other parts of the body.
- Biological therapy:
- Treatment by stimulation of the body's immune defense system.
- Biopsy:
- The removal of a sample of tissue to see whether cancer cells are present.
- Brachytherapy (BRAK-ee-THER-ah-pee):
- Internal radiation treatment achieved by implanting radioactive material directly
into the tumor or very close to it. Sometimes called "internal radiation
therapy."
- Cancer:
- A general term for more than 100 diseases that have uncontrolled, abnormal growth of
cells that can invade and destroy healthy tissues.
- Catheter:
- A thin, flexible tube through which fluids enter or leave the body.
- Chemotherapy:
- Treatment with anticancer drugs.
- Cobalt 60:
- A radioactive substance used as a radiation source to treat cancer.
- Dietitian (also registered dietitian):
- A professional who plans diet programs for proper nutrition.
- Dosimetrist (do-SIM-uh-trist):
- A person who plans and calculates the proper radiation dose for treatment.
- Electron beam:
- A stream of particles that produces high-energy radiation to treat cancer.
- External radiation:
- Radiation therapy that uses a machine located outside of the body to aim high-energy
rays at cancer cells.
- Fluoride:
- A chemical applied to the teeth to prevent tooth decay.
- Gamma rays:
- High-energy rays that come from a radio active source such as cobalt-60.
- Gray:
- A measurement of absorbed radiation dose; 1 Gray = 100 rads.
- High dose rate remote brachytherapy:
- A type of internal radiation in which each treatment is given in a few minutes while
the radioactive source is in place. The source of radioactivity is removed between
treatments. Also known as high dose rate remote radiation therapy.
- Hyperfractionated radiation:
- Division of the total dose of radiation into smaller doses that are given more than
once a day.
- Implant:
- A small container of radioactive material placed in or near a cancer.
- 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.
- Intraoperative radiation:
- A type of external radiation used to deliver a large dose of radiation therapy to
the tumor bed and surrounding tissue at the time of surgery.
- 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 (MeV) linear
accelerator or a linac.
- Malignant:
- Cancerous (see cancer).
- Medical oncologist:
- A doctor who specializes in using chemotherapy to treat cancer.
- Metastasis:
- The spread of a cancer from one part of the body to another. Cells in the second tumor
are like those in the original tumor.
- Oncologist:
- A doctor who specializes in treating cancer.
- Palliative care:
- Treatment to relieve, rather than cure, symptoms caused by cancer. Palliative care
can help people live more comfortably.
- Physical therapist:
- A health professional trained in the use of treatments such as exercise and massage.
- Platelets:
- Special blood cells that help stop bleeding.
- Prosthesis:
- An artificial replacement of a part of the body.
- Rad:
- Short form for "radiation absorbed dose"; a measurement of the amount of
radiation absorbed by tissues (100 rad = 1 Gray).
- Radiation:
- Energy carried by waves or a stream of particles.
- Radiation oncologist:
- A doctor who specializes in using radiation to treat cancer.
- Radiation physicist:
- A person trained to ensure that the radiation machine delivers the right amount of
radiation to the treatment site.
- Radiation therapist:
- A person with special training who runs the equipment that delivers the radiation.
- Radiation therapy:
- The use of high-energy penetrating rays or subatomic particles to treat disease. Types
of radiation include x-ray, electron beam, alpha and beta particles, and gamma rays.
Radioactive substances include cobalt, radium, iridium, and cesium. (See also gamma rays,
brachytherapy, teletherapy, and x-ray.)
- Radiologist:
- A physician with special training in reading diagnostic x-rays and performing
specialized
x-ray procedures.
- Radiotherapy:
- See radiation therapy.
- Remote brachytherapy:
- See high dose rate remote brachytherapy.
- 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.
- Teletherapy:
- Treatment in which the radiation source is at a distance from the body. Linear
accelerators and cobalt machines are used in teletherapy.
- Treatment port or field:
- The place on the body at which the radiation beam is aimed.
- Tumor:
- An abnormal mass of tissue. Tumors are either benign or malignant.
- Unsealed internal radiation therapy:
- Internal radiation therapy given by injecting a radioactive substance into the
bloodstream or a body cavity. This substance is not sealed in a container.
- White blood cells:
- The blood cells that fight infection.
- X-ray:
- High-energy radiation that can be used at low levels to diagnose disease or at high
levels to treat cancer.
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