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Glossary Terms: 1-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-39
rad
:
stands for "radiation absorbed dose," a measurement of the amount of radiation absorbed by tissues. The term rad is being replaced by cGy.
radiation oncologist
:
a doctor who specializes in using radiation to treat cancer.
radiation proctitis
:
a possible side effect of external beam radiation therapy. Problems can include pain, bowel frequency, bowel urgency, bleeding, chronic burning, or rectal leakage.
radiation therapist
:
a person with special training to work the equipment that delivers radiation therapy.
radiation therapy
:
treatment with high-energy rays (such as x-rays) to kill or shrink cancer cells. The radiation may come from outside of the body (external radiation) or from radioactive materials placed directly in the tumor (internal or implant radiation). Radiation therapy may be used to reduce the size of a cancer before surgery, to destroy any remaining cancer cells after surgery, or, in some cases, as the main treatment
radical (Halsted or standard) mastectomy
:
See mastectomy.
radical prostatectomy
:
surgery to remove the entire prostate gland, the seminal vesicles and nearby tissue.
radioactive implant
:
a source of high-dose radiation that is placed directly into or around a tumor to kill the cancer cells. See also, brachytherapy
radioisotope
:
a type of atom that is unstable and prone to break up (decay). Decay releases small fragments of atoms and energy. Exposure to certain radioisotopes can cause cancer. But radioisotopes are also used to find and treat cancer. In certain imaging procedures, for example, radioisotopes are injected into the body where they then collect in areas where the disease is active, showing up as highlighted areas on the images. In breast cancer, radioisotopes are used to check for metastasis to the bones.
radiologic technologist
:
a health professional (not a doctor) trained to properly position patients for x-rays, take the images, and then develop and check the images for quality. Since mammograms (breast x-rays) are done on a machine that is used only for mammograms, the technologist must have special training in mammography. The films taken by the technologist are sent to a radiologist to be read.
Glossary Terms: 1-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-39
