Biopsy • Doctor snips a small piece of tissue, which is looked at closely under a microscope.

Bladder • Pouch inside your body where urine is stored. When the bladder is full, you feel like you need to pass your urine.

Bone scan • An imaging procedure to tell if prostate cancer has spread to the bones.

Bowels • The long tube in the body that holds bowel movements.

Brachytherapy • Type of internal seed radiation sometimes used to treat prostate cancer. The seeds are inserted through the area underneath the testicles.

Cancer • The general term for a group of diseases in which body cells start to grow out of control.

Cancer grade • Best guess about how fast the cancer is probably growing (how aggressive it is). With prostate cancer, the grade is also called the Gleason Sum or Gleason Score.

Cancer stage • Tells about how big the cancer is and about how much it has probably spread.

Catheter • Tube used to drain the urine from the bladder. In men, the tube is put in through the penis.

Clinical trial • Research studies that test new drugs or procedures with less well-known or unknown effects or side effects.

Conformal radiation therapy • Conformal external beam radiation is a better way of directing the radiation to the prostate without spilling over to other tissues.

CT scan • An X-Ray procedure that uses a computer to look at many areas of the body. It can be used to tell if prostate cancer dhas spread.

Diagnosis • When a doctor figures out what is wrong with a patient, using information the patient gives, a physical exam, and test results.

Digital Rectal Exam (DRE) • When a health care provider inserts a finger in the rectum to feel the prostate.

Erection • When the penis gets hard.

External beam radiation • A treatment using a radiation source outside the body to treat cancer.

Gleason Sum • Grade of a prostate cancer resulting from looking at a biopsy sample through a microscope. Also called the Gleason Score or Cancer Grade.

Hormone • A natural substance produced in one part of the body that affects cells elsewhere in the body.

Hormone lowering therapy • Cancer treatment that involves lowering or blocking male hormones.

Incontinence • Can’t control the flow of urine from the bladder. Not being able to control passing your urine (pee).

Impotence • Can’t have an erection; penis doesn’t get hard.

In remission • Cancer is not found after treatment.

Internal seed implant (brachytherapy) • Radiation therapy in which a radiation source is placed in the prostate.

Laparoscope • A lighted tube used to help remove the prostate through the abdomen.

Local therapy • Treatment that affects a tumor and the area nearby.

Lymph nodes (glands) • Small areas in the body where germs or cancer cells are trapped. Lymph nodes also have special cells that help fight infections. Some of these nodes are often removed during surgery.

Metastasis • Prostate cancer that has spread to distant places in the body, like bone or liver.

MRI • A non-X-Ray procedure that uses a computer to look at many areas of the body. It can be used to tell if prostate cancer has spread.

Node • A short-hand way of saying lymph node.

Oncologist • A doctor who specializes in treating cancer. Radiation Oncologists treat cancer with radiation. Medical Oncologists use hormones and drugs to treat cancer.

Prostatitis • Inflamed or infected area of the prostate.

Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) • A substance made by the prostate that can be measured with a blood test. A high level in the blood may or may not indicate prostate cancer.

Radiation therapy • Treatment using radiation to destroy cancer.

Rectum • Opening in the bottom where the bowel movements come out.

Scrotum • In men, the pouch of skin that contains the testicles (balls).

Second opinion • Term used by insurance and medical experts to mean asking another doctor to review your case and the treatment proposed for you.

Seed implant (brachytherapy) • Radiation therapy in which a radiation source is placed in the prostate.

Semen • Male sex fluid.

Seminal vesicle • A small sac attached to the prostate that holds sperm. Cancer may spread there.

Stage • With cancer, the stage describes how much a cancer has probably spread.

Testicles • Male sex glands (balls).

Tumor • An abnormal mass of tissue, sometimes used to talk about cancer.

Urethra • A tube that carries urine or semen to the outside of the body, through the penis.

Urologist • A surgical doctor who specializes in diseases of the urinary and male sex organs.