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).

As defined by the National Cancer Institute, cancer that occurs in fewer than 15 out of 100,000 people each year. Most types of cancer are considered rare, and they are often more difficult to prevent, diagnose, and treat than the more common cancers.

Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) | American Cancer Society.

The Cancer emoji ♋ depicts the sign of Cancer, a constellation and one of the 12 zodiac signs in astrology. It is commonly used to represent Cancer, people whose zodiac sign is Cancer, and astrology in general.

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

Cancer refers to any one of a large number of diseases characterized by the development of abnormal cells that divide uncontrollably and have the ability to infiltrate and destroy normal body tissue. Cancer often has the ability to spread throughout your body. Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the world.

Lung and bronchus cancer is responsible for the most deaths with 125,070 people expected to die from this disease. That is nearly three times the 53,010 deaths due to colorectal cancer, which is the second most common cause of cancer death. Pancreatic cancer is the third deadliest cancer, causing 51,750 deaths.

Cancer is caused by changes to DNA. Most cancer-causing DNA changes occur in sections of DNA called genes. These changes are also called genetic changes. A DNA change can cause genes involved in normal cell growth to become oncogenes.

What is the most aggressive cancer? ›

Lung cancer is the most aggressive form of cancer. Smoking and tobacco use are the major causes of it. Low-dose CT scans, which can detect cancer earlier, have improved survival rates for those with lung cancer, even among heavy smokers.

The most common type of cancer on the list is breast cancer, with 313,510 new cases expected in the United States in 2024. The next most common cancers are prostate cancer and lung cancer. Because colon and rectal cancers are often referred to as "colorectal cancers," these two cancer types are combined for the list.

Origin of the word cancer

In Greek, these words refer to a crab, most likely applied to the disease because the finger-like spreading projections from a cancer called to mind the shape of a crab. The Roman physician, Celsus (25 BC - 50 AD), later translated the Greek term into cancer, the Latin word for crab.

The system uses letters and numbers to describe the cancer. T refers to the size of the cancer and how far it has spread into nearby tissue. It can be 1, 2, 3 or 4, with 1 being small and 4 large. N refers to whether the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes. It can be between 0 and 3.

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.

NCI is the nation's trusted source for cancer information.

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