cancer Definition
can·cer (kan′sər)
noun
- a N constellation between Gemini and Leo; the Crab
- the fourth sign of the zodiac, entered by the sun about June 21: also called the Crab
- a person born under this sign
- a malignant new growth anywhere in the body of a person or animal; malignant tumor: cancers tend to spread locally and to distant parts of the body
- any of various diseases characterized by the uncontrolled growth of cells that disrupt body tissue, metabolism, etc.
- anything bad or harmful that spreads and destroys
Etymology: ME & OE < L, a crab; later, malignant tumor; by dissimilation (? already in IE) < IE *karkar-, redupl. of base *kar-, hard > hard, Gr karbinos, crab, Sans karkara, rough, hard, karkata, crab
cancer Related Forms
can′·cer·ous adjective
cancer Synonyms
cancer
n.
cancer Usage Examples
Preposition: of
pancreas: The father of one of my close friends is terminally ill with cancer of the pancreas.
Converse of object
- diagnose: Another avenue of nanotechnology research is to develop nanometre-sized contrast agents with ultrasound to diagnose ovarian cancer.
- treat: For example, the BCG vaccine used to treat bladder cancer.
- detect: The PSA test, although imperfect, remains our best means of detecting prostate cancer at a stage when it can still be cured.
Adjective modifier
- ovarian: Nearly 7,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year in the UK.
- colorectal: AB - Colorectal cancer continues to be a major problem.
- cervical: Mouth cancers have a higher proportion of deaths per number of cases than breast cancer, cervical cancer or skin melanoma.
- pancreatic: The symptoms of pancreatic cancer can be quite vague.
- testicular: Similar trends were seen in individuals with testicular cancer.
- gastric: METHODS: The authors report a study about 15 patients, out of 116 cases of gastric cancer, operated by TEG between 1990-1998.
Modifies a noun
- cell: Our aim is to examine the consequences of the inhibition of this pathway in human cancer cells.
- patient: METHODS: The subjects were 50 advanced gastric cancer patients treated with FP.
- screening: Cervical cancer screening for women over 20 years - not more often than every five years for maximum cost-effectiveness.
- incidence: Cancer incidence was determined by linkage with the Danish Cancer Registry.
Noun used with modifier
- breast: The research actually works with women who already have breast cancer, finding ways to maximize their survival.
- prostate: The study compared 181 men with advanced prostate cancer with 181 men of similar age with no cancer.
- lung: Lung Cancer Smoking is the main cause of lung cancer.
- bowel: Carrying top weight is not just the reason either, physical activity itself can directly protect from bowel cancer.
- colon: This involves examining the rectum for colon cancer by using a camera fitted on a flexible tube.
- skin: Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the UK, with over 40,000 new cases every year.
Browse dictionary entries near cancer
- ‹ cancellous
- ‹ cancellation
- ‹ cancel
- ‹ cancan
- ‹ canc
- ‹ Canberra
- ‹ Canaveral
- ‹ canasta
- ‹ canary yellow
- ‹ Canary Islands
- cancerous ›
- cancerphobia ›
- cancroid ›
- candela ›
- candelabrum ›
- candelilla ›
- candent ›
- candescent ›
- Candia ›
- candid ›

