D - G Terms
| Diagnostic mammogram: |
The use of a breast x-ray to evaluate the breasts of a woman who has symptoms of disease such as a lump, or whose screening mammogram shows an abnormality. |
| Digital mammography: |
A technique for recording x-ray images in computer code, which allows the information to enhance subtle, but potentially significant, changes. |
| Ducts: |
Channels that carry body fluids. Breast ducts transport milk from the breast's lobules out to the nipple. |
| Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS): |
Cancer that is confined to the ducts of the breast tissue. |
| Excisional biopsy: |
The surgical removal (excision) of an abnormal area of tissue, usually along with a margin of healthy tissue, for microscopic examination. Excisional biopsies remove the entire lump from the breast. |
| False negative (mammograms): |
Breast x-rays that miss cancer when it is present. |
| False positive (mammograms): |
Breast x-rays that indicate breast cancer is present when the disease is truly absent. |
| Fat necrosis: |
Lumps of fatty material that form in response to a bruise or blow to the breast. |
| Fibroadenoma: |
Benign breast tumor made up of both structural (fibro) and glandular (adenoma) tissues. |
| Fibrocystic disease: |
See Generalized breast lumpiness. |
| Fine needle aspiration: |
The use of a slender needle to remove fluid from a cyst or clusters of cells from a solid lump. |
| Frozen section: |
A sliver of frozen biopsy tissue. A frozen section provides a quick preliminary diagnosis but is not 100 percent reliable. |
| Generalized breast lumpiness: |
Breast irregularities and lumpiness, commonplace and noncancerous. Sometimes called "fibrocystic disease" or "benign breast disease." |
| Gene: |
Segment of a DNA molecule and the fundamental biological unit of heredity. |
| Genetic change: |
An alteration in a segment of DNA, which can disturb a gene's behavior and sometimes leads to disease. |
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