Rectal Cancer Health Article

Adenocarcinoma

—Cancer beginning in epithelial cells that line certain organs and have secretory properties.

Adjuvant therapy

—Treatment involving radiation, chemotherapy (drug treatment), or hormone therapy, or a combination of all three given after the primary treatment for the possibility of residual microscopic disease.

Anastomosis

—Surgical re-connection of the ends of the bowel after removal of a portion of the bowel.

Anemia

—The condition caused by too few circulating red blood cells, often manifested in part by fatigue.

Carcinogens

—Substances in the environment that cause cancer, presumably by inducing mutations, with prolonged exposure.

Defecation

—The act of having a bowel movement.

Epithelium

—Cells composing the lining of an organ.

Lymphatics

—Channels that are conduits for lymph.

Lymph nodes

—Cellular filters through which lymphatics flow.

Malignant

—Cells that have been altered such that they have lost normal control mechanisms and are capable of local invasion and spread to other areas of the body.

Metastasis

—Site of invasive tumor growth that originated from a malignancy elsewhere in the body.

Mutation

—A change in the genetic make-up of a cell that may occur spontaneously or be environmentally induced.

Occult blood

—Presence of blood that cannot be appreciated visually.

Polyps

—Localized growths of the epithelium that can be benign, pre-cancerous, or harbor malignancy.

Resect

—To remove surgically.

Sacrum

—Posterior bony wall of the pelvis.

Systemic

—Referring to throughout the body.