Oncology, Radiology & Pharmacology

This is Unit Fourteen of Medical Terminology: oncology, radiology and pharmacology, three fields taught together. They share a unit because they share the universal suffixes. A root behaves the same way in all three, so the decoding method built in Unit One does not change when the subject does — which is the point the unit's procedure entry makes explicitly at the end. The oncology vocabulary turns on one distinction, benign against malignant, and on one habit worth breaking early. Several words in it sound like they mean cancer and do not. A neoplasm is any new growth, benign or malignant. The behaviour is always stated separately, never implied by the noun. Two descriptions appear in the same record and are constantly swapped. Staging says how far a tumour has gone. Grading says how abnormal its cells look. They answer different questions and neither implies the other. The radiology half divides by energy — x-rays, sound, or a magnetic field — and one pair of terms reverses how an image is read depending on whether a substance blocks the beam or passes it. And the pharmacology entries are unusually restrained. Three of them define a word and state outright that applying it belongs to clinical training. By the end you will be able to do five things. One: tell benign from malignant, and carcinoma from sarcoma. Two: say why a neoplasm is not a cancer. Three: tell staging from grading. Four: tell radiopaque from radiolucent. Five: tell a generic name from a brand name.

Three roots. The first names a mass without saying anything about it, and the next two divide cancers by the tissue they arose in — a division that decides the name a tumour carries for the rest of its course.

The mass.

MedTerm 0901 onc/o: Tumour

The combining form onc slash o names a tumour or mass. The suffix oma also names one, and both appear together in the same term.

Epithelial origin.

MedTerm 0902 carcin/o: Cancer

The combining form carcin slash o names cancer, specifically cancer arising in epithelial tissue. The first c is hard and the second is soft, so the term is spoken kar sin.

Connective origin.

MedTerm 0903 sarc/o: Flesh or Connective Tissue

The combining form sarc slash o names flesh or connective tissue. Carcin names epithelial origin and sarc names connective tissue origin — the origin decides the name.

Five entries built on one distinction. Benign and malignant describe how a tumour behaves, and neither says anything about how large it is or what caused it. The two named tumours then combine behaviour with origin, and the last entry names spread.

Does not invade.

MedTerm 0904 Benign

A benign tumour is one that does not invade surrounding tissue or spread to distant sites. Benign describes behaviour, not size — a benign mass may still be large.

Invades, and can spread.

MedTerm 0905 Malignant

A malignant tumour is one that invades surrounding tissue and can spread to distant sites. These two terms are the central distinction in oncology vocabulary, and neither names a cause.

Malignant, from epithelium.

MedTerm 0906 A Carcinoma

A carcinoma is a malignant tumour arising in epithelial tissue, which lines surfaces and cavities. Carcinoma names origin in epithelium, and a different tissue of origin takes a different term.

Malignant, from connective tissue.

MedTerm 0907 A Sarcoma

A sarcoma is a malignant tumour arising in connective tissue such as bone, muscle or fat. Carcinoma and sarcoma are both malignant and differ in the tissue they arise from.

Spread.

MedTerm 0908 Metastasis

Metastasis is the spread of a malignant tumour from its original site to a distant one. A metastatic tumour keeps the name of its original site, whatever tissue it now sits in.

Five entries, and two of them are the unit's most misread words. A neoplasm is any new growth and says nothing about behaviour. Then a term for a tumour that has stayed put, and the two descriptions that sit side by side in one record and answer different questions.

Formed material.

MedTerm 0909 -plasm: Formation or Growth

The suffix plasm names a formation or growth of tissue. Plasm names formed material; plasia names the process of forming it.

Any new growth.

MedTerm 0910 A Neoplasm

A neoplasm is a new and abnormal growth of tissue, whether benign or malignant. Neoplasm does not mean cancer — it names any new growth, and the behaviour is stated separately.

Stayed put.

MedTerm 0911 In Situ

In situ describes a tumour that remains confined to the tissue layer in which it arose. In situ describes location, not size or origin.

How far it has gone.

MedTerm 0912 Staging

Staging is the process of describing how far a malignant tumour has spread. Staging describes extent, and a separate process describes how the cells appear.

How abnormal it looks.

MedTerm 0913 Grading

Grading is the process of describing how far tumour cells differ in appearance from normal cells. Staging is how far it has gone; grading is how abnormal it looks, and both appear in one record.

Two entries. The first names the taking of a sample and stops there — what happens to the sample afterwards has its own vocabulary. The second is a word whose ordinary reading is more optimistic than its definition allows.

Taking the sample.

MedTerm 0914 A Biopsy

A biopsy is the removal of a tissue sample for examination. A biopsy is the taking of the sample; examining it is a separate step with its own terms.

A change in signs.

MedTerm 0915 Remission

Remission is a decrease in or disappearance of the signs of a disease. Remission names a change in the signs of disease, not necessarily its absence.

Five roots opening the radiology half. One of them names a forearm bone as well, so the rest of the term has to settle it. Another names cutting, and in imaging the cutting is optical — nothing is divided.

Radiation, or x-ray.

MedTerm 0916 radi/o: Radiation or X-ray

The combining form radi slash o names radiation, or x-rays specifically. It also names the radius, a bone of the forearm, and the rest of the term decides which is meant.

Glowing.

MedTerm 0917 fluor/o: Luminous

The combining form fluor slash o names luminous or glowing, and in imaging names a continuous x-ray view. Fluoroscopy shows movement, where radiography captures a single moment.

Sound sent.

MedTerm 0918 son/o: Sound

The combining form son slash o names sound. Sound imaging uses no radiation, which is what separates it from x-ray imaging.

Sound returning.

MedTerm 0919 ech/o: Echo

The combining form ech slash o names an echo, a reflected sound. Son names the sound sent; ech names the sound returning.

A slice.

MedTerm 0920 tom/o: To Cut or Section

The combining form tom slash o names cutting, and in imaging names a view taken as a slice. In imaging the cutting is optical, not surgical — nothing is physically divided.

Four modalities, and the useful way to hold them apart is by the energy each one uses. Two use x-rays, one uses a magnetic field, one uses sound. Two of the four produce sectional images by completely different means.

X-rays onto a detector.

MedTerm 0921 Radiography

Radiography is the process of producing an image by passing x-rays through the body onto a detector. Radiography is the process; the radiograph is the record, and the suffixes divide them.

Many views, computed.

MedTerm 0922 Computed Tomography

Computed tomography is imaging that combines many x-ray views into cross-sectional images. C T uses x-rays — the sectional view comes from computation, not from a different energy.

A magnetic field.

MedTerm 0923 Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Magnetic resonance imaging produces sectional images using a magnetic field rather than x-rays. M R I and C T both produce sectional images and use entirely different energy.

Reflected sound.

MedTerm 0924 Ultrasonography

Ultrasonography produces images using high-frequency sound waves reflected from body structures. It uses no ionizing radiation, unlike radiography and C T.

Six entries. The first pair reverses how an image is read depending on whether a substance blocks the beam or lets it through, and the third names what is introduced to sharpen the difference. Then the pharmacology roots begin.

Blocks the beam.

MedTerm 0925 Radiopaque

Radiopaque describes a substance that blocks x-rays and appears light on the resulting image. Its opposite appears dark.

Passes the beam.

MedTerm 0926 Radiolucent

Radiolucent describes a substance that allows x-rays to pass through and appears dark on the resulting image. Radiopaque is light on the image and radiolucent is dark — the pair reverses how an image is read.

Introduced to sharpen it.

MedTerm 0927 A Contrast Medium

A contrast medium is a substance introduced into the body to make a structure show more distinctly on an image. This entry names the term; which medium is used, and when, belongs to clinical training.

Drugs, as a subject.

MedTerm 0928 pharmac/o: Drug

The combining form pharmac slash o names a drug or medicine. It names drugs as a subject, and names no drug in particular.

Poison.

MedTerm 0929 tox/o: Poison

The combining form tox slash o names a poison or toxin. It names harmful substances generally, including those that are not drugs.

An agent that breaks down.

MedTerm 0930 -lytic: Breaking Down

The suffix lytic describes an agent that breaks down what its root identifies. Lytic is the adjective form; lysis is the noun naming the process.

Six entries. One drug carries two names and the pair is a documented source of error. Then three terms the course defines and pointedly declines to apply, and the unit's two applied entries, which run one root through all three fields.

Two names, one drug.

MedTerm 0931 Generic and Brand Names

A generic name is a drug's official non-proprietary name; a brand name is the name a manufacturer gives its version. Records may carry either, and one drug appearing twice under two names is a known source of error.

The path in.

MedTerm 0932 A Route of Administration

A route of administration names the path by which a substance enters the body. This entry names the vocabulary; selecting a route belongs to clinical training.

When not to use it.

MedTerm 0933 A Contraindication

A contraindication is a circumstance in which a particular treatment is not to be used. This entry defines a word; identifying a contraindication belongs to clinical training.

Harm at a normal dose.

MedTerm 0934 An Adverse Effect

An adverse effect is an unintended and harmful response to a drug given at a normal dose. An adverse effect follows correct use, and a different term names harm from an incorrect amount.

One root, three fields.

MedTerm 0935 Reading One Root Across Three Fields

Oncology, radiology and pharmacology share the universal suffixes, so one root behaves the same way in all three. That is the reason the three fields sit in one unit rather than three, and it is the clearest demonstration in the course that the decoding method is indifferent to subject matter.

The capstone. Twelve terms, three fields.

MedTerm 0936 Capstone: Twelve Terms From Three Fields

Twelve terms drawn from oncology, radiology and pharmacology, decoded with the three-step method from Unit One — suffix first, prefix second, roots last. The terms resolve using the universal suffixes of Unit Two and the prefixes of Unit Three, with no vocabulary that has not already been taught. Where a term contains one of this unit's reversing pairs, the decode is what settles it.

Five things to carry out of this unit. Benign and malignant describe how a tumour behaves — whether it invades and spreads — and neither says anything about size or cause. A carcinoma arises in epithelial tissue and a sarcoma in connective tissue; both are malignant, and the tissue of origin is what separates them. A neoplasm is any new and abnormal growth, benign or malignant. The word does not mean cancer. Behaviour is always stated separately, and reading it into the noun is the standing error in this vocabulary. Staging describes how far a malignant tumour has spread. Grading describes how far its cells differ in appearance from normal ones. Both appear in a single record, they answer different questions, and neither implies the other. Radiopaque substances block x-rays and appear light on the image. Radiolucent substances let them through and appear dark. The pair reverses how an image is read, which is why they are taught adjacently. And one drug carries two names — a generic official name and a manufacturer's brand name. Records may use either, and the same drug appearing twice under two names is a documented source of error rather than a hypothetical one. Unit Fifteen turns to documentation, abbreviations and safety.