cancernoun
uk/ˈkæn.sər/us/ˈkæn.sɚ/B1 [ C or U ] a serious disease that is caused when cells in the body grow in a way that is uncontrolled and not normal, killing normal cells and often causing death:
He died of liver cancer.
cancer of the cervix/stomach
breast/bowel/lung cancer
cancer cells
a cancer patient
It was a secondary cancer.
See also
carcinogen
[ C ] a harmful activity that spreads quickly:
Drug abuse is a cancer that is destroying our society.
More examples
- There's still no cure for cancer.
- This new drug could be an important step in the fight against cancer.
- Early detection of the cancer improves the chances of successful treatment.
- He died last week after a long fight with cancer.
- The survival rate for people who have this form of cancer is now more than 90%.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Cancer
- acinic cell carcinoma
- acral lentiginous melanoma
- aggressive
- alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma
- alveolar soft part sarcoma
- brain tumour
- carcinogen
- carcinogenesis
- carcinogenic
- chondroid chordoma
- chondrosarcoma
- chordoma
- malignancy
- metastatic
- myeloma
- neoplasia
- neoplasm
- neoplastic
- oncogene
- sarcoma
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Difficult things and people
cancerous
adjective uk/ˈkæn.sə.rəs/us/ˈkæn.sə.rəs/
a cancerous growth/tumour