Cancer & Medical Terminology
Word Roots, Suffixes, & Prefixes
You probably already know that most English words are derived from some other languages, such as Greek, Latin, French, or German. This is especially true of medical terms, which usually are based on Greek or Latin words. For example, the word arthritis is based on the Greek word arthron (joint) + the Greek ending itis (inflammation of). In this course of instruction, you will not be asked to memorize long lists of terms. Instead you will learn the meaning of certain prefixes, suffixes, and roots that as word elements make up the common medical terms related to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Your knowledge of these word elements and how they are combined to form common medical terms should make even the most complicated medical terminology decipherable. For example, the word pericarditis can be broken down into its word elements as follows:
Example
| peri | + | card | + | itis |
| (prefix) | (root) | (suffix) | ||
| around | heart | inflammation |
Several roots may be combined along with a prefix and/or suffix to form a word. For example, the word bronchogenic can be broken into the following word elements with, for the sake of ease in pronunciation, a vowel (usually "o") linking the word elements:
Example
| bronch | + | o | + | gen | + | ic |
| (root) | (combining vowel) | (root) | (suffix) | |||
| any larger air passage of lungs | o | forming, producing, condition of | ||||
There are textbooks on medical terminology, and some of these contain quite a detailed discussion of the origin and make-up of medical terms. Also, your medical dictionary probably will contain a section on the fundamentals of medical etymology*. At the very least, you should read this section of your dictionary paying special attention to the list of roots, prefixes, and suffixes.
Word Roots
Medical terms can be divided into three basic word elements: prefixes, roots (or stems), and suffixes. The root or stem of a medical term usually has been derived from a Greek or Latin noun or verb. This root expresses the basic meaning of the term. However, often that meaning will be modified by the addition of a prefix (at the beginning of the word) or the addition of a suffix (at the end of the word). Frequently a root + a suffix will be used as a suffix and added to another root as a word ending. Some examples are -emia, -genic, -penia, and -pathy. However, two suffixes alone cannot combine to form a word. Three common medical terms, their roots, and their root definitions are listed below.
| Medical Term | Root | Root Definition |
|---|---|---|
| tonsillitis | tonsilla | tonsil (Latin tonsilla) |
| thermal | therm | heat |
| prognosis | gno | to know |
The Cancer and Medical Terminology module introduces you to the terminology used in medical records to describe cancers and other medical conditions. People working in cancer registries need to recognize and understand the medical terminology in the records they collect to ensure that the information included in the Registry's data is as complete and accurate as possible.
- Define key Greek and Latin roots that are used in medical terminology.
- Define the meanings of the common prefixes and suffixes found in cancer and medical terminology.
- Determine the meanings of medical terms used in the medical records of cancer patients based on their roots, prefixes and suffixes.
Prefix
A prefix consists of one or two syllables placed before a word in order to modify the meaning of the word. Often these syllables are prepositions or adverbs. Prefixes are commonly used to help describe the appearance of, or the location of, an anatomical part. For example, the term adrenal, the name of a ductless gland above the kidney, is composed of the prefix ad, which means near, and a root renal, which means kidney. Combine the prefix and the root and you get a term that means "near the kidney." Listed below are a few of the prefixes used with common medical terms.
| Medical Term | Prefix | Root Definition |
|---|---|---|
| hemiplegia | hemi- | half |
| hypodermic | hypo- | under |
| intramuscular | intra- | within |
Suffix
A true suffix refers to a syllable or a group of syllables attached to the end of a word root (or stem) to modify the meaning of the word root. By adding a suffix to a word root, one may change the meaning of a word, or merely change its grammatical function, i.e., create a noun or an adjective. Following are a few medical terms which commonly used suffixes.
| Medical Term | Suffix | Root Definition |
|---|---|---|
| cuboid | -oid | like, resembling, in the front of |
| glucose | -ose | composed of carbohydrate |
| dermatitis | -itis | inflammation of |
| arthrosis | -osis | condition of |
| hemolysis | -lysis | breakdown, destruction of |
| cytology | -ology | study of |
Formation of Medical Terms
The basic forms of medical terms, with examples of each, are described below. Of course, any particular medical term may take on an almost infinite variety of combinations of these three basic forms:
| Medical Term | Root | Meaning | Suffix | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| carcinoma | carcin(o) | crab | oma | tumor |
| sarcoma | sarc(o) | flesh | oma | tumor |
| cerebral | cerebr | brain | al | pertaining to |
| Medical Term | Prefix | Meaning | Root | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| neoplasm | neo | new | plasm | growth, formation |
| biped | bi | two | ped | foot |
| dysfunction | dys | difficult, painful | function | normal action |
| Medical Term | Prefix | Meaning | Root | Meaning | Suffix | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| hypoglycemia | hypo | under | glyc | sugar | emia | blood |
| encephalitis | en | in | cepahl | head | itis | inflammation of |
| pericarditis | peri | around | card | heart | itis | inflammation of |
| Medical Term | Root | Meaning | Root | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| biostatistics | bio | life | statistics | numerical facts |
| erythroblast | erythr(o) | red | blast | germ cell |
| microfilm | micr(o) | small | film |
Posttest
- Terms may be composed of a root + suffix.
Medical Term Root Meaning Suffix Meaning carcinoma carcin(o) crab oma tumor sarcoma sarc(o) flesh oma tumor cerebral cerebr brain al pertaining to - Terms may be composed of a prefix + a root.
Medical Term Prefix Meaning Root Meaning neoplasm neo new plasm growth, formation biped bi two ped foot dysfunction dys difficult, painful function normal action - Terms may be composed of a prefix + a root + a suffix.
Medical Term Prefix Meaning Root Meaning Suffix Meaning hypoglycemia hypo under glyc sugar emia blood encephalitis en in cepahl head itis inflammation of pericarditis peri around card heart itis inflammation of - Some medical terms are composed of two roots.
Medical Term Root Meaning Root Meaning biostatistics bio life statistics numerical facts erythroblast erythr(o) red blast germ cell microfilm micr(o) small film Common Symptomatic Suffixes
There are thousands of major and minor things which can occur to a human body. Each disease and pathological condition is described by a specific medical term. Often similar symptoms and pathological conditions can occur in different parts of the body. It is convenient, therefore, to have word elements which describe certain common conditions. For example, the word element -algia means "pain" or "ache", which can be combined with other word elements referring to parts of the body. Thus, myalgia refers to a pain or ache in a muscle or muscles
Common Diagnostic Suffixes
There are numerous suffixes used with diagnostic terms. Terms using these suffixes will be found in the record of a patient's history and physical examination. An understanding of the meaning of these suffixes will help you abstract the medical records.
Complaints & Symptoms
A medical record is composed of a number of sections. The first section contains a description of the patient's complaints and symptoms, the medical history of the patient, the findings of a physical examination of the patient, and the impressions of the examining physician regarding the diagnosis of the patient's illness.
You should be cautioned that each medical record will be slightly different. The order in which information is recorded will be slightly different and sometimes certain items of information will not be found in the medical record as more patients are diagnosed and/or treated in the physician's office or in a clinic. It must also be noted that medical practitioners are not noted for their penmanship. Indeed, perhaps one of the most difficult aspects of medical record abstracting is deciphering the physician's handwriting. This will be less of a problem as more hospitals computerize the medical record. The United States military is considering a computerized system called Composite Health Care System (CHCS). Army hospitals in Kentucky and Hawaii began developing the system in 1988 as well as Navy and Air Force facilities. Now the system is being tested in Walter Reed Medical Center, the Army's largest teaching hospital. It will eventually be installed throughout military medical centers — a total of 125 hospitals in the United States.
The first entry in the record is usually a description of the chief complaints (CC) of the patient, i.e., the reason the patient sought medical attention. The description of the present illness (PI) which
Physical Findings
The next portion of the record contains the previous medical history (PMH). This subsection contains information about previous illness, accidents, medications, and the presence or absence of allergies
Following the previous medical history (PMH), you usually find the information about the family history (FH) and the social history (SH) of the patient. The family history describes the history of cancer and other diseases in the patient's family. The subsection on social history should contain information about smoking, use of alcohol and drugs, birth control pills, and other possible carcinogens. Sometimes this subsection will include work history, especially if the patient has worked in an environment that might be conducive to the development of cancer.
The review of systems (ROS) comprises the next section of the record. During this review, the physician systematically questions the patient about his well-being, problems associated with head, ears, eyes, nose, throat (HEENT); heart, chest; gastraintestinal (GI) tract, and genitourinary (GU) system problems; unusual bleeding tendencies (hematopoietic problems).
The next portion of the record contains the physical examination (PE) of the patient. It begins with a general description of the patient's condition together with a recording of vital signs.
The physical examination begins with the head, eyes, ears, nose, and throat (HEENT) and moves downward, covering such areas as the neck, chest, heart (cardiac), vascular system, lungs, abdomen, genitals, rectum, extremities, and lymph nodes. A general check is then made of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems.
The medical history and physical examination section of a medical record often end with the physician's impression of the diagnosis.
Illnesses
In this learning unit, you will learn the definition of the terms used to describe illnesses. There are, of course, literally hundreds of names that could be listed in this unit. Those names listed are for illnesses that seem to occur with some frequency in persons who have developed cancer.
Information about present and very recent illnesses should be contained in the medical history section of the medical record — in particular, the section on present illness. The physical examination (PE) section may contain additional information.
Abbreviations, Symbols, & Acronyms
Medical records can be very difficult to read and comprehend. Often the handwriting is almost illegible, and the widespread use of symbols and abbreviations has reached a point where a handy reference is a necessity. Several such references are listed in the selected bibliography.
You will find that reading a medical record becomes easier as you learn the meaning of the technical terms associated with cancer. Many words that are not clearly written will make sense to you because you will be able to recognize the meaning of the common symbols and abbreviations used in a medical record. These symbols and abbreviations are a useful speedwriting technique for the tumor registrar as well as for the medical staff. However, when there is any possibility of confusion, words should be written out.
The style of abbreviation for a term may vary slightly in different texts. For example, periods may or may not be used between letters; capital or small letters may be used. Remember, you often will have to read the content to understand the meaning of the abbreviation. Variation in use of periods and capitalizations is frequent and widespread (as A.M., AM, a.m., am). Do not use nonstandard abbreviations in abstracts. The current trend is to write abbreviations in capital letters without periods excerpt where understanding or common usage dictates otherwise.
CAUTION: The examples listed do not include all the possible meanings for each acronym, abbreviation or symbol, and the abbreviations may not be those used in your hospital. You will have to determine your local usage.
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