Progress Report on Cancer Control in Canada

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Glossary of Terms and Definitions

Benign

Generally applied to a tumour or neoplasm that is not malignant. Benign tumours don’t spread to other organs, which is their main distinction from malignant tumours (cancer).

Cancer

A malignant tumour or neoplasm. Malignant tumours have the propensity to spread either locally or through the lymphatic system or blood stream, to other organs. Cancers are usually defined by the name of the organ from which they arise, e.g., breast cancer, but sometimes by the type of cells comprising the cancer (e.g. leukemia, arising from primitive blood cells).

Cancer continuum

The spectrum of cancer-related experience, including prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment, living with cancer, and end of life.

Cancer control

The totality of measures taken to reduce the impact of cancer, including prevention, early detection and screening, treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care.

Cancer treatment

Specific treatment measures taken to cure cancer, or ameliorate its major effects. Cancer treatment includes surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and pain relief measures.

Carcinogen

A chemical, infectious or physical agent that can cause cancer.

Carcinoma

A cancer that arises from epithelial tissue (the lining of an internal organ or the skin).

Chemotherapy

The use of a chemical or chemotherapeutic agent to treat cancer or to limit its further progress.

Clinical breast examination (CBE)

The process of examining the breasts by a carefully trained health professional in order to detect early signs of breast cancer, when potentially still curable.

Clinical trial

A research activity used to evaluate the efficacy and safety of promising approaches to disease prevention and control. Interventional trials determine whether experimental treatments or new ways of using known therapies are safe and effective under controlled environments. Observational trials address health issues in large groups of people or populations in natural settings.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)

Complementary and alternative medicine refers to a broad range of therapies used both to treat and prevent disease that are not considered to be part of conventional medicine.

Crude (death) rate

The portion of a defined population that died during a specified period. The word “crude” is used to distinguish this measure from a rate that has been adjusted for differences in the age structure of populations (i.e. an agestandardized rate.)

Diagnosis

The identification of a disease or health condition, or the name of the disease or condition.

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)

The biochemical carrier of genetic information; the constituent material of all genes.

Epidemiology

The study of the distribution and determinants of diseases in humans.

Genes

The functional unit of heredity, genes are composed of DNA sequences. They are located within the chromosomes, and determine particular characteristics of an individual.

Genetic testing

Analyzing an individual’s genetic material to diagnose a genetic disease or condition, or to determine a predisposition to a particular health condition.

Genetics

The study of heredity and the variability of inherited traits.

Genome

The genetic material of an individual.

Guidelines

A formal statement directing a defined task or function. Examples include clinical practice guidelines and guidelines for the ethical conduct of medical research.

Human genome project

An international project designed to identify the totality of the sequences of human genes.

Incidence

The frequency of occurrence of any event or condition in a defined population over a defined period of time.

In this report incidence is the total number of new cases of cancer diagnosed in a particular year expressed as the rate of new cases per 100,000 individuals in the population. In the figures provided, all incidence rates have been age-standardized to the 1991 Canadian population to ensure comparability across years.

Mammography

The use of x-rays to create a picture of the breast (mammogram) to help diagnose and localize breast cancer.

Morbidity

The state of being diseased or ill.

Mortality rate

The portion of a defined population that dies during a specific period. For cancer, this is expressed as the number of cancer deaths per 100,000 people per year. As was the case for incidence, mortality rates in this report have been age-standardized to the 1991 Canadian population.

Oncology

The branch of medicine dealing with cancer.

Outcomes

All the possible changes in health status that may result from exposure to a causal factor or from the handling of a health problem.

Palliative care

Palliative care is the active total care of patients whose disease is not responsive to curative treatment. Control of pain, of other symptoms, and of psychological, social and spiritual problems is paramount, to achieve the best possible quality of life for patients and their families.

Pap smear

A screening test to help identify malignant or premalignant changes in the cervix. It is performed by obtaining cells from the exterior of the cervix uterus, staining them with a special technique derived by Papanicolau (hence the Pap test), and examining them under a microscope. (Alternative name: pap test).

Population-based

Pertaining to a defined population.

Population health

Population health is an approach that aims to improve the health of the entire population and to reduce health inequities among population groups by acting upon the broad range of factors and conditions that have a strong influence on health.

Potential years of life lost (PYLL)

PYLL is a measure of premature mortality that represents the number of years of life “lost” when a person dies prematurely from any cause. For example, if one assumes a life expectancy of 75 years, the PYLL for a person dying at age 25 would be 50.

Precursor

A condition or state preceding the overt, pathological onset of a disease. Precursor states may sometimes be detectable by screening, or may be used as a risk marker.

Predictive value

In screening and diagnostic tests, the probability that a person with a positive test is a true positive (i.e. does have the disease) is referred to as the “positive predictive value of the test.” The predictive value of a negative test is the probability that a person with a negative test does not have the disease.

Prevalence

The number of cases of disease in a population, at a defined point in time, irrespective of the time of diagnosis. It is usually expressed as the number of cases of disease per 100,000 individuals in the population. It is a measure of the total burden of disease in a population.

Prevention

Actions aimed at eliminating or minimizing the impact of disease and disability.

Quality-of-life

A measure of the extent a patient is free from pain or disability caused by disease, and the extent he or she is able to perform the normal functions of life unaided.

Rate

A measure of the frequency of occurrence of a phenomenon. A rate is an expression of the frequency with which an event occurs in a defined population in a specified period of time.

Relative survival

Relative survival is the ratio of the proportion of observed survivors in a cohort of cancer patients to the proportion of expected survivors in a comparable set of cancer-free individuals.

Risk factor

An exposure or genetic characteristic that is associated with a health-related condition.

Screening

Screening is the process by which unrecognized diseases are identified by tests that can be applied rapidly on a large scale. Screening tests sort out apparently healthy people from those who may have a disease. A screening test is not intended to be diagnostic; rather, a positive finding will have to be confirmed by special diagnostic procedures.

Screening mammogram

A screening mammogram is an x-ray of the breast used to detect breast changes in women who have no signs of breast cancer. It usually involves two x-rays of each breast.

Staging (cancer)

Cancer staging systems describe how far cancer has spread and put patients with similar prognosis in the same group. In overall stage grouping, there are four stages. In general, stage I cancers are small localized cancers that are usually curable, while stage IV usually represents inoperable or metastatic cancer. Stage II and III cancers are usually locally advanced and/or with involvement of local lymph nodes.

Statistics

The science of collecting, summarizing, and analyzing numerical data. The term is also applied to the data themselves.

Surveillance

Systematic ongoing collection, collation, and analysis of data and the timely dissemination of information to those who need to know so that action can be taken.

Tumour

A new and abnormal formation of tissue, as a lump or growth. Tumours may be benign (rarely life-threatening) or malignant.

Trend

The general direction (for example, rising falling or stable) of change over time.

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