Glossary

Adjuvant therapy - additional therapy to increase effectiveness of overall treatment

Benign - denotes a non-cancerous growth

Biopsy - the procedure of removing tissue and/or fluid from the body for medical examination and also the name for the examination itself

Cure - in medical parlance 'cure' is used to denote survival for five years after diagnosis of breast cancer

Epidemiology - the science of disease occurrence, severity, and distribution within an area (from local to international)

Gene - a unit of DNA responsible for passing on specific characteristics from parent to child

Genetics - the study of specific inherited characteristics of a person from their parents

Hereditary - genetic characteristics transmitted from parent to child, e.g. blue eyes, brown hair, some disease susceptibilities

Malignant - denotes a cancerous growth

Pathology - study of the abnormalities of disease created within tissues and organs of the body

Sentinel Node - This is the first Lymph node that lymph fluid reaches in the under arm area after leaving the breast

Tumour - a swelling or enlargement caused by overgrowth of cells within the body or any organ of the body