Benign Tumour: Not cancerous; does not invade nearby tissue or spread to other parts of the body.

Biopsy: The removal of cells or tissues with a needle or incision for examination under a microscope.

Breast Self-Examination (BSE): A method of manually checking one’s own breasts for lumps.

Calcification: Tiny calcium deposits within the breast, singly or in clusters, often found by mammography.

Carcinoma: Cancer that begins in the skin or in the tissues that line or cover the internal organs. Carcinomas are the most common form of cancer, accounting for about 80%-90% of all cancers.

Chemotherapy: Treatment with drugs to destroy cancer cells. Often used in addition to surgery or radiation if cancer has spread, has come back (recurred) or when there is a chance that it could recur.

Clinical Breast Exam: A manual and visual examination of the breasts done by a health professional such as a doctor or nurse.

Cyst: A sac or capsule filled with fluid. Because a doctor cannot always tell if a lump in the breast is a cyst, fluid may be removed through a procedure called a needle aspiration.

Fibrosis: Formation of fibrous (scar-like) tissue. Can occur any where in the body.

Inflammatory Breast Cancer: An aggressive type of breast cancer. Occurs in sheets or nests rather than in solid, confined tumour. Presents with a hot red breast, which is tender and can be difficult to detect by mammogram and sonar. Requires core biopsy.

Invasive Breast Cancer: Cancer that has spread beyond the layer of tissues in which it developed into surrounding, healthy tissues. Also called infiltrating cancer.

Lumpectomy: Wide local excision surgery to remove the breast tumour and a small amount of surrounding normal tissue.  A lumpectomy is almost always followed by radiation to reduce the risk of recurrence.

Malignant Tumour: Cancerous; a growth with a tendency, to invade and destroy, nearby tissue and spread (metastasize)’to other parts of the body.

Mammogramm (Mammography): A specialized X-ray of the breast to help detect breast cancers which cannot be felt by the woman or even a health care professional.

Mastectomy: Surgery to remove the whole breast and some lymph nodes (Should be offered in conjunction with an, immediate or delayed reconstruction)

Needle Aspiration: A type of biopsy utilizing removal of fluid from a cyst or cells from a tumour for examination under a micrpscope.

“Negative Result”: Not cancerous (benign).

“Cancerous Result”: Cancerous (malignant). Inconclusive or inadequate result. Test should be repeated.

Radiation Therapy: Treatment with high-energy rays (such as Xrays) to eliminate or shrink cancer cells before or after surgery, or. in some cases, as the main treatment.

Reconstructive Surgery: Using plastic surgery techniques to create a “new” breast after the mastectomy or lumpectomy (surgical removal of the breast or lump). The reconstruction of the breast can frequently be done during the same operation when the breast is removed, using several, different procedures.

Stereotactis Needle Biopsy: A method of needle biopsy that is useful in cases in which a mass can be seen on a mammogram, but cannot be found by touch. A computer maps the location of the mass to guide the placement of the needle.

Tumour: An abnormal lump or mass of tissue. Tumours can be benign (not cancerous) or malignant (cancerous).

Ultrasound (Ultrasonography): A procedure in which sound waves (called ultrasound) are bounced off tissues and a picture (sonogram) is formed. Often used to evaluate cysts, dense breasts or women with young breasts.