CANCER

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does Cancer mean? 

• CANCER (noun)
  The noun CANCER has 5 senses:

1. any malignant growth or tumor caused by abnormal and uncontrolled cell division; it may spread to other parts of the body through the lymphatic system or the blood stream

2. (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Cancer

3. a small zodiacal constellation in the northern hemisphere; between Leo and Gemini

4. the fourth sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from about June 21 to July 22

5. type genus of the family Cancridae

  Familiarity information: CANCER used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CANCER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any malignant growth or tumor caused by abnormal and uncontrolled cell division; it may spread to other parts of the body through the lymphatic system or the blood stream

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

cancer; malignant neoplastic disease

Hypernyms ("cancer" is a kind of...):

malignant neoplasm; malignant tumor; metastatic tumor (a tumor that is malignant and tends to spread to other parts of the body)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cancer"):

lymphoma (a neoplasm of lymph tissue that is usually malignant; one of the four major types of cancer)

carcinoma (any malignant tumor derived from epithelial tissue; one of the four major types of cancer)

cancer of the blood; leucaemia; leukaemia; leukemia (malignant neoplasm of blood-forming tissues; characterized by abnormal proliferation of leukocytes; one of the four major types of cancer)

sarcoma (a usually malignant tumor arising from connective tissue (bone or muscle etc.); one of the four major types of cancer)

Derivation:

cancerous (relating to or affected with cancer)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Cancer

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Cancer; Crab

Hypernyms ("Cancer" is a kind of...):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Domain category:

astrology; star divination (a pseudoscience claiming divination by the positions of the planets and sun and moon)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A small zodiacal constellation in the northern hemisphere; between Leo and Gemini

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Instance hypernyms:

constellation (a configuration of stars as seen from the earth)

Holonyms ("Cancer" is a part of...):

zodiac (a belt-shaped region in the heavens on either side to the ecliptic; divided into 12 constellations or signs for astrological purposes)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The fourth sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from about June 21 to July 22

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

Cancer; Cancer the Crab; Crab

Instance hypernyms:

house; mansion; planetary house; sign; sign of the zodiac; star sign ((astrology) one of 12 equal areas into which the zodiac is divided)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Type genus of the family Cancridae

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

Cancer; genus Cancer

Hypernyms ("Cancer" is a kind of...):

arthropod genus (a genus of arthropods)

Meronyms (members of "Cancer"):

Cancer magister; Dungeness crab (small edible crab of Pacific coast of North America)

Cancer irroratus; rock crab (crab of eastern coast of North America)

Cancer borealis; Jonah crab (large red deep-water crab of the eastern coast of North America)

Holonyms ("Cancer" is a member of...):

Cancridae; family Cancridae (many of the best known edible crabs)

 Context examples 

A cancer, a tumour, or something of that nature,—a thing that devours and destroys.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Cancer that develops in C cells of the thyroid.

(Medullary thyroid cancer, NCI Dictionary)

Lindsay points out that dogs are already being used to sniff out diseases like cancers, and Parkinson's disease.

(The Dog's Nose Knows Malaria, Kevin Enochs/VOA)

Drisse says this can lead to chronic respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, as well as certain types of cancers later in life.

(WAir Pollution a Health Risk for Children, Lisa Schlein/VOA)

A regimen consisting of doxorubicin, paclitaxel and cyclophosphamide, administered on a sequential schedule and used in the adjuvant setting for the treatment of breast cancer.

(A-T-C Regimen, NCI Thesaurus)

A type of monoclonal antibody used in cancer detection or therapy.

(A33, NCI Dictionary)

A drug used to prevent endometrial cancer.

(Medroxyprogesterone acetate, NCI Dictionary)

These CTLs are transfused back into the patient for cancer therapy.

(AAV-DC-CTL Tumor Cell Targeting Therapy, NCI Thesaurus)

A substance being studied in the treatment of cancer.

(A6, NCI Dictionary)

In their multivariate regression analysis, the researchers found aspirin therapy was independently associated with reduced liver cancer risk.

(An Aspirin A Day Keep Liver Cancer Away, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)