Cancer Legal Glossary: R

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Radiation Therapy: X-Ray treatment that damages or kills cancer cells.

Radical Cystectomy: Surgery to remove the bladder as well as nearby tissues and organs.

Radical Prostatectomy: An operation in which the entire prostate gland plus some tissue around it is removed. Radical prostatectomy is used most often if the cancer is thought not to have spread outside the gland, particularly for younger men.

Radiologist: A doctor who specializes in the use of x-rays to diagnose and treat disease.

Radon: A radioactive gas that is released by uranium, a substance found in soil and rock. When too much radon is breathed in, it can damage lung cells and lead to lung cancer, particularly in smokers.

Rectum: The last six inches of the large intestine.

Recurrence: The return of cancer, at the same site as the original (primary) tumor or in another location, after the original tumor has disappeared.

Red Blood Cells (Erythrocytes): Cells in the blood that deliver oxygen to tissues and take carbon dioxide from them.

Red Blood Count (RBC): The number of red blood cells seen in a blood sample.

Reed- Sternberg Cell: A type of cell that appears in people with Hodgkin's Disease. The number of these cells increases as the disease advances.

Refractory Cancer: Cancer that has not responded to treatment.

Regression: The shrinkage of a cancer growth.

Relapse: The reappearance of a disease after its apparent cessation.

Remission: Complete or partial disappearance of the signs and symptoms of disease.

Resection: Removal of tissue or all or part of an organ by surgery.

Retroperitoneal: Having to do with the area outside or behind the peritoneum (the tissue that lines the abdominal wall and covers most of the organs in the abdomen).

Risk Factor: Anything that increases a person's chances of developing cancer; for example smoking increases the chances for getting lung cancer.

RTPCR: A molecular process which can multiply small amounts of DNA or other particles and make it possible to identify their presence in small samples. It has been used to determine the presence of circulating prostate cancer cells. This process remains somewhat experimental.

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