Table 4.
Definitions of key words and phrases
| Sentence from video clip. Key word is bolded. Definition |
Examples of participants’ definitions |
|---|---|
|
“Prevention is key.” To keep from happening or existing.1 |
“How to stop something from occurring” “Things to do to stop you from getting the disease” “To eat healthy and live a healthy lifestyle” “Watching out and being careful” “To avoid trouble, to avoid things that have been proven to induce the growth of cancer in our bodies” “We can avoid cancer if we avoid the following: alcohol, smoking, etc.” “Stop taking unnecessary risks with your body” “Doing the wrong thing” |
| “500 doctors, 7,000 clinical trials provide evidence on what causes cancer, what we should eat, what we shouldn’t eat.” Something that furnishes proof.1 |
“It’s proof of something” “Empirical research to show that there is a relationship between and activity and cancer” “What was determined through the study” “Factual” “…hard core facts. It means it’s true…” “Data collected over time” “Something that has been measured, not just anecdotal statements, but it is numbers and data backing up whatever claim they are making” “Clinical trials” “Reading, talking with people, studying” “Nothing is 100% true, they are looking at the data and drawing conclusions from the data that is out there, everything is implied, they don’t know anything for sure.” |
| “Men with desk jobs are more at risk for prostate cancer.” In a state or condition marked by a high level of risk or susceptibility.1 |
“higher chance” “more likely to get” “prone to” “tend to” “probability is much higher” “likely” “possibility” “greater than a 50–50 chance” “more opportunities” |
| “Men with sedentary jobs are more likely to have developed prostate cancer.” Doing or requiring much sitting, not physically active.1 |
“inactive” “not moving around” “stationary” “sitting around all day, not being active” “sitting down, being lazy” “more prone to sit down than stand up” “doing as little as possible physically” |
| Some women will undergo a biopsy after having a mammogram, and we learn a lot from that biopsy. The removal and examination of tissue, cells, or fluids from the living body.1 |
“Sample of suspect tissue to see if they have cancer” “Removing a section for examination, usually for cancer.” “Take a portion of the breast, where there was a lump, to see if it is malignant or not.” “More information – from a tissue sample.” “Test beyond a mammogram.” “Test where they actually put a needle in, x-ray under a microscope and exam it” “Taking a piece of whatever the infection is to find out if it’s good or bad.” “A way of pulling tissue.” |
| “We learn a lot of information about a woman’s true risk of breast cancer from that pathology.” The study of the essential nature of diseases and especially of the structural and functional changes produced by them; the structural and functional deviations from the normal that constitute disease or characterize a particular disease.1 |
“testing; discovering whether it’s positive or negative” “testing it; see if there are cancer cells, see how quickly they are growing testing; tell if there is an abnormality” “Looking at the tissue” “Test it – fluid - to see what the risk factors are” |
| It is important to get screened for colorectal cancer because many cases of colorectal cancer might be prevented or cured if found early enough. Checking for disease when there are no symptoms. Since screening may find diseases at an early stage, there may be a better chance of curing the disease. Screening can also include checking for a person’s risk of developing an inherited disease by doing a genetic test.2 |
“It’s like a test. It just means they are checking for something.” “testing” “having a colonoscopy.” “check up” “checked out, medically probed … to alleviate the possibility of you getting or someone catching, catching like it’s a cold, getting it.” |
| “If found in its early stages, colorectal cancer is about 90% curable.” Early stage cancer: A term used to describe cancer that is early in its growth, and may not have spread to other parts of the body. What is called early stage may differ between cancer types.2 |
“That would be the polyp stage, which would be stage 1, which would be precancerous lesions … it’s not cancer yet but it could develop into cancer.” “when they’re just beginning to develop.” “early stage is the very beginning.” “before it spreads.” “like the first, when those bad cells start forming” “The chances of cure are based on stages, if it’s stage 1, just one spot, you can be cured.” “It’s just beginning. You’re getting the growth, and they’re just beginning to catch hold and do their thing. So you are catching them before they get attached to you.” “Still within the colon and hasn’t gone to higher stages.” “Discovered at a certain time in your life.” |
| “She learned that cervical cancer is caused by the Human Papilloma Virus or HPV.” A member of a family of viruses that can cause abnormal tissue growth (for example, genital warts) and other changes to cells.2 |
“it’s a virus that causes cervical cancer in a woman and is sexually transmitted” “virus” “…it’s a cancer transmitted and received and it grows primarily in the uterus” “herpes” |
| “The American Cancer Society recommends women be screened with a Pap test within three years of becoming sexually active and no later than the age of 21.” A procedure in which cells are scraped from the cervix for examination under a microscope. It is used to detect cancer and changes that may lead to cancer.2 |
“A scraping of the lining of the cervix to see if there is cancer present” “It detects whether there is cervical cancer” “the test they do to detect HPV” “They clip tissue or something, and they send it off to the lab to be screened for cancer” “…they get a smear test of the fluids in the birthing canal” “woman’s test; I have no idea” “blood test” |
| If you are in a high risk group, you should limit sun exposure and examine your skin once a month. In danger, subject to hazard.3 |
“at risk that is above the average” “more likely” “more prone to get it” “possibility of getting cancer is high” “probability of getting whatever you’re talking about it very high” “very much in danger of” “eating something or smelling something or drinking something that can put you at risk, like being an alcoholic or drug addict” |
| “Basal cell skin cancers are less likely to be fatal than malignant melanoma.” Cancerous. Malignant tumors can invade and destroy nearby tissue and spread to other parts of the body.2 |
“a cancerous growth which unfortunately can metastasize and attach itself to other organs or other tissues” “it can spread rapidly” “cancerous” “real cancer” “active; you really have the cancer” “Bad. Overgrowth” “fatal” “maybe-ish; not necessarily” |
1
In Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/.
2
In National Cancer Institute Dictionary of Cancer Terms. Retrieved from http://www.cancer.gov/dictionary/.
3
In Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved from http://dictionary.oed.com.
For each word or phrase, some participants responded “don’t know” and did not provide any definition.