The Basics: Reliable information

Where To Get What You Need

This section of the web portal contains basic information about cancer. It will help you find information that will enable you to understand the words that your healthcare team is using and help you discuss your condition with your healthcare team. Knowing what words mean and how to pronounce them allows you to take an active role in managing your treatment. "Information is power," so understanding and being able to talk about your own disease, treatment choices, and your preferences empowers you to feel less overwhelmed and to make thoughtful choices you can feel good about.

The information below comes from the websites of the AdvancedBreastCancerCommunity.org Advocacy Group partners, as well as the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society. It is reliable, accurate, and unbiased.

Many sites have good Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) that you can print or copy and take with you to your doctor's visit. Make sure to check the FAQs sections on these sites.

AdvancedBreastCancerCommunity.org - Advocacy Group Partners

The 13 patient advocacy groups have a wealth of available information including dictionaries, toll-free hotlines, and peer-to-peer support. They are listed below:

  1. AdvancedBC.org - A resource of treatment and support information for people living with advanced breast cancer.
    AdvancedBC.org
    Info: www.advancedbc.org/contact.html
    Website: www.advancedbc.org
  2. Breast Cancer Network of Strength (formerly Y-ME) - To ensure, through information, empowerment, and peer support, that no one faces breast cancer alone.
    Breast Cancer Network of Strength
    212 W Van Buren, Ste. 1000
    Chicago, IL 60607
    Toll Free: 800-221-2141 (English)
    Toll Free: 800-986-9505 (Spanish)
    Phone: 312-986-8338
    Website: www.networkofstrength.org
  3. Breastcancer.org - Your lifeline to information about breast cancer.
    Breastcancer.org
    7 East Lancaster Avenue
    3rd Floor
    Ardmore, PA 19003
    Phone: 610-642-6550
    Fax: 610-642-6559
    Info: comments@breastcancer.org
    Website: www.breastcancer.org
  4. Breast Cancer Research Foundation - To achieve prevention and a cure for breast cancer in our lifetime by providing critical funding for innovative clinical and translational research at leading medical centers worldwide, and increasing public awareness about good breast health.
    The Breast Cancer Research Foundation
    60 East 56th Street
    8th floor
    New York, New York 10022
    Toll Free: 1-866-FIND-A-CURE (346-3228)
    Phone: 646-497-2600
    Fax: 646- 497-0890
    Info: bcrf@bcrfcure.org
    Website: www.bcrfcure.org
  5. CancerCare - A national nonprofit organization that provides free, professional support services for anyone affected by cancer.
    CancerCare
    CancerCare National Office
    275 Seventh Ave.
    Floor 22
    New York, NY 10001
    Toll Free: 1-800-813-HOPE (4673)
    Phone: 212-712-8400
    Info: info@cancercare.org
    Website: www.CancerCare.org
  6. The Linda Creed Foundation - Committed to promoting breast health, fostering the healing process, and establishing a public agenda for prevention and cure.
    Linda Creed Breast Cancer Foundation
    260 South Broad Street, 18th Floor
    Philadelphia, PA 191029
    Phone: 215.564.3700
    Toll Free: 1-877-99CREED
    Website: www.lindacreed.org
  7. Living Beyond Breast Cancer - Committed to promoting breast health, fostering the healing process, and establishing a public agenda for prevention and cure.
    Living Beyond Breast Cancer
    354 West Lancaster Ave., Suite 224
    Haverford, PA 19041
    Toll Free: 888-753-LBBC (888-753-5222)
    Phone: 484-708-1550 or 610-645-4567
    Info: mail@lbbc.org
    Website: www.lbbc.org
  8. Metastatic Breast Cancer Network - A proactive voice in the breast cancer community, dedicated to easing fear of metastatic disease, ending isolation, exposing misconceptions, and developing strategies for living with the disease and coping with treatment. And most important, MBCN is fighting for the development of treatments that extend life as the search for the cure continues.
    Metastatic Breast Cancer Network
    Toll Free: 1-888-500-0370
    Info: MBCNET@gmail.com
    Website: www.mbcnetwork.org
  9. SHARE - Self-help for Women with Breast or Ovarian Cancer - A community of women and men affected by breast or ovarian cancer, providing toll-free, peer hotlines seven days and evenings a week, survivor-led support groups, education programs, and advocacy opportunities, all in English & Spanish. Hotlines and programs focus on both early stage and metastatic disease.
    1501 Broadway
    Suite 704A
    New York, New York 10036
    Toll Free: 1-866-891-2392
    Phone: 212-719-0364
    Website: www.sharecancersupport.org
  10. Sisters' Network - Committed to increasing local and national attention to the devastating impact that breast cancer has in the African-American community.
    Sisters Network, Inc.
    8787 Woodway Dr., Ste. 4206
    Houston, TX 77063
    Toll Free: 866-781-1808
    Phone: 713-781-0255
    Info: infonet@sistersnetworkinc.org
    Website: www.sistersnetworkinc.org
  11. Susan G. Komen for the Cure - Dedicated to saving lives and ending breast cancer forever by empowering people, ensuring quality care for all, and energizing science to find the cures.
    Susan G. Komen for the Cure
    5005 LBJ Freeway, Ste. 250
    Dallas, TX 75244
    Toll Free: 1-877 GO KOMEN (1-877-465-6636)
    Phone: 972-855-1600
    Website: www.komen.org
  12. The Wellness Community - An international nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free support, education, and hope to people with cancer and their loved ones.
    The Wellness Community
    919 18th Street, NW Suite 54
    Washington, DC 20006
    Toll Free: 888.793.WELL
    Phone: 202-659-9709
    Info: help@thewellnesscommunity.org
    Website: www.thewellnesscommunity.org
  13. Young Survival Coalition - Premier international, nonprofit network of breast cancer survivors and supporters dedicated to the concerns and issues that are unique to young women and breast cancer.
    Young Survival Coalition
    61 Broadway, Ste. 2235
    New York, NY 10006
    Toll Free: 877-YSC-1011
    Phone: 646-257-3000
    Info: info@youngsurvival.org
    Website: www.youngsurvival.org

The National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Located in Bethesda, MD near Washington, D.C., the federally funded NCI (a part of the National Institutes of Health) supports research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs with respect to the cause, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cancer, rehabilitation from cancer, and the continuing care of cancer patients and the families of cancer patients. Specifically, the Institute:

The NCI website address is http://www.cancer.gov. The site has information on clinical trials, statistics, research, and funding and an excellent Dictionary of Cancer Terms. If you would like to speak with someone directly, you can talk with an information specialist from the NCI's Cancer Information Service, in English or Spanish, within the United States, Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. local time. The number is:
1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237) TTY: 1-800-332-8615

The American Cancer Society (ACS)

Located in Atlanta, GA, ACS is the nationwide community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and service.
ACS:

Their web address is www.cancer.org. The site has a glossary (dictionary) of cancer terms. It also has some decision-making tools that you can access online by clicking on All About Cancer (General Information), then click on Treatment Decision Tools in the left column. If you want to speak with an information specialist, you can call National Cancer Information Center at 1-800-ACS-2345. You will be connected to someone in your area.

American Society of Clinical Oncology Cancer.net

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) launched Cancer.Net (www.cancer.net), a comprehensive, doctor-approved patient website that provides reliable, up-to-the-minute information on more than 120 types of cancer and cancer-related syndromes. Features include:

Getting Started

If you have recently been diagnosed with cancer or have had a recurrence of cancer, the basic terms in this section may be helpful to you. If have heard a word or term used and you are not sure what it means and do not want to ask, then use this section and the resources listed to empower yourself. Click on the underlined words and you will find more information. They are linked to the NCI's Dictionary of Cancer Terms. Also, see more dictionaries below.

What is cancer?

Cancer is a group of many related diseases. All cancers begin in cells, the building blocks that make up tissues. Cancer that arises from organs and solid tissues is called a solid tumor. Cancer that begins in blood cells is called leukemia, multiple myeloma, or lymphoma.

Normally, cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them. When cells grow old and die, new cells take their place. Sometimes this orderly process goes wrong. New cells form when the body does not need them, and old cells do not die when they should.

The extra cells form a mass of tissue, called a growth or tumor. Tumors can be either benign (not cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). Benign tumors do not spread to other parts of the body, and they are rarely a threat to life. Malignant tumors can spread (metastasize) and may be life threatening.

What is metastasis, and how does it happen?

Metastasis means the spread of cancer. Cancer cells can break away from a primary tumor and enter the bloodstream or lymphatic system (the system that produces, stores, and carries the cells that fight infections). That is how cancer cells spread to other parts of the body.

When cancer cells spread and form a new tumor in a different organ, the new tumor is a metastatic tumor. The cells in the metastatic tumor come from the original tumor. This means, for example, that if breast cancer spreads to the lungs, the metastatic tumor in the lung is made up of cancerous breast cells (not lung cells). In this case, the disease in the lungs is metastatic breast cancer (not lung cancer). Under a microscope, metastatic breast cancer cells generally look the same as the cancer cells in the breast.

Where does cancer spread?

Cancer cells can spread to almost any part of the body. Cancer cells frequently spread to lymph nodes (rounded masses of lymphatic tissue) near the primary tumor (regional lymph nodes). This is called lymph node involvement or regional disease. Cancer that spreads to other organs or to lymph nodes far from the primary tumor is called metastatic disease. Doctors sometimes also call this distant disease.

The most common sites of metastasis from solid tumors are the lungs, bones, liver, and brain.. Some cancers tend to spread to certain parts of the body. For example, breast cancer commonly spreads to the bones, lungs, liver, or brain. However, cancers can spread to other parts of the body as well.

How does a doctor know whether a cancer is a primary or a metastatic tumor?

To determine whether a tumor is primary or metastatic, a pathologist (a doctor who identifies diseases by studying cells and tissues under a microscope) examines a sample of the tumor under a microscope. In general, cancer cells look like abnormal versions of cells in the tissue where the cancer began. Using specialized diagnostic tests, a pathologist is often able to tell where the cancer cells came from. Markers (a diagnostic indication that disease may develop) or antigens (a substance that causes the immune system to make a specific immune response) found in or on the cancer cells can indicate the primary site of the cancer.

Metastatic cancers may be found before or at the same time as the primary tumor, or months or years later. When a new tumor is found in a patient who has been treated for cancer in the past, it is more often a metastasis than another primary tumor.

Symptoms

Some people with metastatic cancer do not have symptoms. Their metastases are found by x-rays and other tests, such as MRIs, CT Scans, and PET Scans, performed for other reasons.

When symptoms of metastatic cancer occur, the type and frequency of the symptoms will depend on the size and location of the metastasis. For example, cancer that spreads to the bones is likely to cause pain and can lead to bone fractures. Cancer that spreads to the brain can cause a variety of symptoms, including headaches, seizures, and unsteadiness. Shortness of breath may be a sign of lung involvement. Abdominal swelling or jaundice (yellowing of the skin) can indicate that cancer has spread to the liver.

Sometimes a person’s primary cancer is discovered only after the metastatic tumor causes symptoms.

Other helpful dictionaries

Understanding breast cancer — basic resources

corner image corner image corner image

Copyright ©2008 Inspire logo