National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre (NBOCC)

Adjuvant – treatment given in addition to primary (initial) treatment. For breast cancer, the primary treatment is surgery and adjuvant treatments include chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormonal therapies and targeted therapies

Anaemia – a condition in which there are fewer red blood cells in the blood than normal

Aromatase inhibitors – types of hormonal therapy used in the treatment of breast cancer

Arthralgia – pain in the joints

Atypical fractures – stress fractures in compact bone that occur at sites with high tensional stress

Bone metastasis – cancer that has spread to the bone

Bone mineral density (BMD) – defined using the T score (how dense the bone is compared to the expected bone density of a young healthy adult) and measured from various places including lumbar spine, hip and femoral neck. A normal bone mineral density is T score greater than -1.0

Contralateral breast – the other breast from the initial site of breast cancer

Disease-free survival – time from randomisation to the first occurrence of one or more of the following: a local or regional recurrence, cancer in the contralateral breast, distant metastasis, second primary carcinoma, or death from any cause

Endocrine therapy – a type of hormonal treatment that acts to inhibit the grown of breast cancer cells that have hormone receptors (e.g. ovarian suppression, aromatase inhibitors and selective oestrogen receptor modulators)

ER+ (oestrogen receptor-positive) breast cancer – a type of breast cancer in which the growth of cancer cells is affected by the female hormone oestrogen

Hypocalcaemia – abnormally low calcium levels

Hypophosphataemia – abnormally low phosphate levels

Lymph nodes – glands in the armpit and other parts of the body that protect the body from infection. Lymph nodes may be fixed or moveable

Metastasis – the secondary or distant spread of cancer, away from its initial site in the body

Myalgia – muscle pain

Neoadjuvant – administration of therapy before the main treatment (e.g. prior to surgery)

Osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) – death of a section of the jaw

Osteopenia – lower bone mineral density than normal but not low enough to be classified as osteoporosis. Osteopenia may be a precursor to osteoporosis. Defined in trials as bone mineral density T score greater than -2.5 and less than -1.0

Osteoporosis – systemic skeletal disease that causes the bones to become thin, weak and fragile, and leads to increased risk of fracture. Defined in trials as bone mineral density T score of -2.5 or lower

Ovarian suppression – therapy to stop functioning of the ovaries and prevent them from producing oestrogen

Phlebitis – inflammation of a vein

PR+ (progesterone receptor-positive) breast cancer – a type of breast cancer in which the growth of cancer cells is affected by the female hormone progesterone

Recurrence-free survival – time from randomisation to the first occurrence of local or regional recurrence

Systemic therapy – drugs such as chemotherapy or hormonal therapy that treat the whole body to destroy cancer cells Targeted therapy – drugs that stop the growth of particular types of cancer cells

Visceral metastasis – cancer that has spread to other internal organ(s)