ARCHIVED - Organized Breast Cancer Screening Programs in Canada - Report on Program Performance in 2003 and 2004
Appendices
Appendix 3: Glossary
- Asymptomatic
- A woman who does not report symptoms and appears without signs of disease at screening.
- Breast self-examination (BSE)
- An examination of the breasts performed by the woman herself in order to learn what is normal for her own breasts and to recognize when something may be wrong.
- Cancer
- Includes malignant invasive and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast.
- Clinical breast examination (CBE)
- A physical examination of the breasts performed by a trained health professional.
- Diagnosis
- The first pathologic or cytologic diagnosis of cancer, last known biopsy for benign cases, or last intervention before a recommendation to return to screening or return for early recall.
- Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)
- A non-invasive tumour of the breast, arising from cells that involve only the lining of a breast duct. The cells have not spread outside the duct to other tissues in the breast.
- Fine-needle aspiration biopsy
- A needle is inserted into a lesion and cells are drawn out using a syringe. The cells are stained and examined by a cytologist in a laboratory to determine if there are any malignant cells.
- Incident cancer
- Cancer detected by a program screen after the initial screen.
- In situ
- Refers specifically to ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS): a non-invasive tumour of the breast, arising from cells that involve only the lining of a breast duct. The cells have not spread outside the duct to other tissues in the breast.
- Initial screen
- The first Canadian screening program screen provided to a woman.
- Interval cancer
- Any invasive or ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) breast cancer diagnosed in the interval after a “normal” screening result and before the next scheduled screening examination.
- Invasive cancer
- Cancer cells invading beyond the basement membrane of the milk duct or lobule. A ductal carcinoma in situ component may also be present in cases of invasive cancer.
- Negative screening episode
- A screening episode that concludes with normal findings, including program-initiated work-up that did not reveal any cancer.
- Open biopsy
- Surgical removal of a breast abnormality under local anesthesia for subsequent microscopic examination by a pathologist.
- Post-screen cancer
- Cancers that occur after the recommended 12 or 24 months in women who do not return for their regular annual or biennial screen respectively (non-compliant cancers) or women who become symptomatic before their next regular screen (interval cancers).
- Prevalent cancer
- The proportion of the population with cancer at a given point in time.
- Screen
- Can comprise mammography, or both clinical breast examination and mammography, delivered by a program.
- Screening episode (completed)
- Defi ned for normal screens as the date of the last screen; for abnormal screens, the date of tissue diagnosis if biopsy is performed, the date of the last test before a return to screening or before the recommendation for repeat diagnostic imaging. A "negative screening episode" can include all follow-up, provided that the end result is negative.
- Rescreening
- Subsequent screening, according to policy, after initial screening under the program. This includes women who miss a scheduled round of screening.
- Screen-detected cancer
- Cancer detected as a result of a positive test with histologic confirmation attributed to the screening findings of the program.
- Sojourn time
- Includes malignant invasive and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast.
- Total person-years at risk
- Within a 12 or 24-month period after a negative screening episode, women are considered at risk for post-screen detected cancer. Women contribute a count in the denominator for each year or fraction of a year within the period of interest before a post-screen detected cancer or the next regular program screen.
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