Appendix 10

Borderline ovarian tumours are abnormal cells that form in the tissue covering the ovary. They are different to ovarian cancer because they do not grow into the supportive tissue of the ovary (the stroma). They tend to grow slowly and in a more controlled way than cancer cells.
The main treatment for borderline tumours is surgery. Most women are cured and have no further problems. There is a small risk of the tumour coming back. Very rarely, the borderline tumour cells change into cancer cells.

CA

The 19 Cancer Alliances in England bring together the key organisations in their regions to coordinate cancer care and to plan for and lead delivery of improved outcomes for patients locally.

NCRAS

The National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS) collects data on all cases of cancer that occur in people diagnosed in England. The data is used to support public health, healthcare and research.

Category of types of cancer that develop from epithelial cells.

A disease or condition that someone has in addition to the health problem being studied or treated (i.e. cancer).

Fallopian tubes carry eggs from the ovaries to the uterus. Serous carcinomas of the fallopian tube are considered to be the same disease entity as serous cancers of the ovary and primary peritoneal carcinoma, which is why cancers at all 3 sites are collected in this report.

FIGO

System for staging of gynaecological cancers, published by the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO).

ICD

International Classification of Diseases is a medical classification and coding list for the identification of diseases, signs and symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances and external causes of injury or diseases, as maintained by the World Health Organization (WHO).

ICD-10 classifies cancers by site and behaviour (malignancy) and ICD-O classifies cancers by site, morphology and behaviour.

Find out more about the International Classification of Diseases on the WHO website.

Malignant tumours are considered to be cancer. Malignant means characterised by the tendency to become progressively worse. Often characterised by anaplasia, invasiveness and /or metastases.

Morphology is the type of a tumour, as diagnosed by a pathologist looking at the shape of the cells through a microscope. The morphological type of a tumour can be important in understanding how to treat that tumour and what expected outcomes might be. The morphology categories include the main subtypes of epithelial ovarian cancers (serous, endometrioid, clear cell, mucinous and other epithelial), categories for cases where the pathology detail was unspecified or the site was unspecified in the data, and the separate category of sex code stromal and germ cell tumours.

MDT

MDTs bring together experts in specific areas of medicine and care, and usually meet every week to discuss the diagnosis, treatment and care of individual cancer patients.

Performance status is an attempt to quantify cancer patients' general well-being and activities of daily life. This is captured as a WHO (World Health Organization) score between 0 and 5.

The peritoneum is the serous membrane forming the lining of the abdominal cavity. 

C48

Cancer of the epithelial cells in the peritoneum. Primary peritoneal carcinomas are considered to be the same disease entity as serous carcinomas of the ovarian or fallopian tube, which is why cancers at all 3 sites are collected in this report.

Stage describes the extent or severity of a person’s cancer. Diagnosis at an earlier stage leads to improved prognosis, treatments and outcomes in comparison with cancers diagnosed at a later stage.

A collective term to describe the growing number of drugs used to treat cancer

WHO

The World Health Organization directs and coordinates international health within the United Nations system. The WHO classification systems for cancer sites are used in the cancer registry.