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SharePartial Glossary of Melanoma Terms
SUSPICIOUS SPOT The older you get, the spottier you become. When examining your skin, look for changes in moles, or the presence of new spots. Compared to other spots, a melanoma often stands out like an 'ugly duckling'.
BIOPSY A biopsy is the removal of a sample of tissue from the body for examination. The tissue will be examined under a microscope to assist in diagnosis.
WIDE LOCAL EXCISION A wide local excision (WLE) is a surgical procedure to remove a small area of diseased or problematic tissue with a margin of normal tissue.
PATHOLOGY REPORT The description of cells and tissues made by a pathologist (a doctor who identifies diseases by studying cells and tissues under a microscope) based on microscopic evidence, and sometimes used to make a diagnosis of a disease.
CLARK'S LEVEL 5 Clark's Level is a staging system which describes the level of anatomical invasion of the melanoma in the skin. It has been shown that Clark's Level has a lower predictive value and is more operator-dependent as compared with Breslow's depth. Thus, in the current (2002) AJCC (American Joint Committee on Cancer) staging system, Clark's Level has prognostic significance only in patients with very thin (Breslow depth < 1 mm) melanomas. Five anatomical levels are recognized, and higher levels have worsening prognostic implications.
ULCERATED Ulcerated means the layer of skin covering the melanoma is absent. This is seen under a microscope after a biopsy. Ulceration, as an independent prognostic factor, has a great deal of power in predicting how people do. Ulceration pushes you up one notch in terms of a worse prognosis.
SENTINEL LYMPH NODE BIOPSY A sentinel lymph node biopsy is a surgery that takes out lymph node tissue to look for cancer. A sentinel node biopsy is used to see if melanoma has spread from the original cancer site. If cancer is found in the sentinel lymph node at the time of surgery, more surgery will be needed to remove additional lymph nodes. The sentinel lymph node is the first node in a group of nodes in the body where cancer cells may move to after they have left the original cancer site and started to spread. The doctor injects a blue dye or special tracer substance or both into the area around the original cancer site. The dye or tracer moves to the first lymph node (sentinel node) that drains close to the cancer site. The dye or tracer makes a map pattern of lymphatic fluid. The map can show where the cancer is likely to spread and which lymph node is most likely to have cancer cells. Your doctor can see the dye or tracer with a special device. The lymph node can be taken out, cut into very thin slices, and looked at under a microscope
OCCIPITAL LOBE Region in the back of the brain which processes visual information.
STAGE IV MELANOMA The tumor has spread to other organs or to lymph nodes far away from the original tumor.
GAMMA KNIFE RADIATION A gamma knife is a device used to treat brain tumors with a high dose of radiation therapy. The device aims gamma radiation through a target point in the patient's brain. The patient wears a specialized helmet that is surgically fixed to their skull so that the brain tumor remains stationary at the target point of the gamma rays. Radiosurgery uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. It is delivered precisely to avoid damaging healthy brain tissue.
CLINICAL TRIALS Clinical trials are studies performed with human subjects to test new drugs or combinations of drugs, new approaches to surgery or radiotherapy or procedures to improve the diagnosis of disease and the quality of life of the patient (http://clinicaltrials.gov/).
TEMODAR Temodar is used to treat certain cancerous brain tumors in adult patients. Temodar is an anti-cancer chemotherapy drug and is taken by mouth. It interferes with cell growth, especially in cells that are growing rapidly, such as cancer cells. Temodar has been shown to help slow the growth of certain tumors. Temodar has been shown to reduce the size of the tumor in some patients.
BLOOD BRAIN BARRIER A protective network of blood vessels and cells that filters blood flowing to the brain.
RADIATION TREAMENTS Radiation therapy is the medical use of ionizing radiation as part of cancer treatment to control malignant cells (not to be confused with radiology, the use of radiation in medical imaging and diagnosis). Radiotherapy may be used for curative or adjuvant (extra treatment to keep cancer from returning) cancer treatment. It is used as palliative treatment (where cure is not possible and the aim is for local disease control or symptomatic relief) or as therapeutic treatment (where the therapy has survival benefit and it can be curative).
CT SCAN A CT scan (sometimes called a CAT scan) is a noninvasive medical test that helps physicians diagnose and treat medical conditions. CT scanning combines special x-ray equipment with sophisticated computers to produce multiple images or pictures of the inside of the body. CT scans of internal organs, bone, soft tissue and blood vessels provide greater clarity and reveal more details than regular x-ray exams.
SACRUM The sacrum is a large, triangular bone at the base of the spine and at the upper and back part of the pelvic cavity, where it is inserted like a wedge between the two hip bones. Its upper part connects with the last lumbar vertebra, and bottom part with the coccyx (tailbone).
CARBOPLATIN Carboplatin is a chemotherapy drug used against some forms of cancer. It was introduced in the late 1980s. Carboplatin belongs to the group of medicines known as alkylating agents.
PACLITAXEL Paclitaxel is a cancer medication that interferes with the growth of cancer cells and slows their growth and spread in the body.
IL-2 (Interleukin-2) IL-2 is a type of natural protein, called a cytokine, produced by the body. It stimulates the white blood cells known as T-lymphocytes (T-cells) to grow and divide. T-cells are an important part of the body's immune system. Giving IL-2 in high doses stimulates the patient's immune system to better recognize and destroy cancer cells. High-dose IL-2 is an FDA-approved, inpatient therapy to treat metastatic melanoma. Metastatic disease refers to cancers that have spread beyond the original site to additional tissue and organs.
FDA (Food and Drug Administration) FDA (or USFDA) is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is responsible for regulating and supervising the safety of foods, dietary supplements, drugs, vaccines, biological medical products, blood products, medical devices, radiation-emitting devices, veterinary products, and cosmetics. New drugs receive extensive scrutiny before FDA approval in a process called a New Drug Application.
IMMUNOTHERAPY Cancer immunotherapy is the use of the immune system (special cells, proteins, tissues, and organs that defend people against germs and microorganisms) to reject cancer. The main premise is stimulating the patient's immune system to attack the malignant tumor cells that are responsible for the disease. The concept of immunotherapy is based on the body's natural defense system, which protects us against a variety of diseases. The immune system may play a central role in protecting the body against cancer and in combating cancer that has already developed.
IPILIMUMAB (MDX-010) Ipilimumab, also known as MDX-010, is an antibody that activates the body's immune system to fight melanoma by inhibiting the CTLA-4 (cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4) molecule. This is a molecule on T-cells that is believed to play a critical role in regulating a natural immune response. Ipilimumab is intended to activate the immune system. Ipilimumab is undergoing clinical trials for the treatment of melanoma. Ipilimumab is designed to block the activity of CTLA-4, thereby sustaining an active immune response in its attack on cancer cells.
STEROTACTIC RADIOSURGERY Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) treats brain disorders with a precise delivery of a single, high dose of radiation in a one-day session. Focused radiation beams are delivered to a specific area of the brain to treat abnormalities, tumors or functional disorders. Stereotactic radiosurgery is limited to the head and neck, because these areas can be immobilized with skeletal fixation devices that completely restrict the head's movement, permitting the most precise and accurate treatment. Radiosurgery has such a dramatic effect in the target zone that the changes are considered "surgical."
RADIOTHERAPY Radiotherapy, also called radiation therapy, is the treatment of cancer and other diseases with ionizing radiation. Ionizing radiation deposits energy that injures or destroys cells in the area being treated (the "target tissue") by damaging their genetic material, making it impossible for these cells to continue to grow. Although radiation damages both cancer cells and normal cells, the latter are able to repair themselves.
NOVALIS The Novalis radiosurgery platform uses a treatment beam precisely contoured to the shape of the tumor to accurately and painlessly deliver treatment, while protecting surrounding healthy tissue. A treatment session lasts minutes. Novalis stereotactic radiosurgery uses highly focused beams of radiation to treat cancer in the brain with a high level of accuracy. Novalis employs a special technique that exactly mirrors the tumor, thereby protecting healthy brain tissue from unnecessary irradiation.
WHOLE BRAIN RADIATION This treatment uses radiation to treat the visible lumps of tumor and the presumed invisible tumor deposits that are so small they may not be seen on even a sensitive MRI scan. Therefore, large areas of the brain may be treated to stop the spread of the tumors. Whole brain radiation therapy can cause shrinkage of visible brain metastases, sometimes making these tumors more responsive to stereotactic radiosurgery. The addition of whole brain radiation therapy to stereotactic radiosurgery can decrease the possibility of additional metastatic lesions and decrease the chance that visible lesions treated with radiosurgery may have recurrences after radiosurgical treatment.
MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) MRI is primarily a medical imaging technique most commonly used in radiology to visualize the internal structure and function of the body. MRI provides much greater contrast between the different soft tissues of the body. Unlike CT, it uses no ionizing radiation, but uses a powerful magnetic field.
MESENTERY The mesentery refers to the peritoneum (a thin membrane that lines the abdominal and pelvic cavities) responsible for connecting parts of the small intestine to the back wall of the abdomen.
TIL (Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes) A white blood cell that has left the bloodstream and migrated into a tumor. During the trial, blood is drawn from the patient, along with a sample of the tumor. The T cells, which are the immune system's killer cells, are removed from the tumor and re-educated to attack the cancer cells. The patient's normal immune system is then temporarily suppressed using chemotherapy and the newly trained T cells are returned to the patient. The T cells are expected to survive, replicate and kill the melanoma (cancer).
REMISSION A complete remission means that the cancer has completely disappeared with the treatment. Remission does not mean that the patient is cured. A cancer cannot be cured without a remission; however, a remission does not always ensure that the cancer has been totally eliminated.
Information on this page has been cited from the Melanoma Research Foundation (www.melanoma.org) - 2011
