Glossary Terms

Mastectomy

A mastectomy is surgery to remove a woman's breast. It is usually done to treat breast cancer. Sometimes women at high risk for breast cancer get mastectomies because they want to decrease their risk for breast cancer.

Melanoma

Melanoma is a type of cancer that begins in the cells that are responsible for the color of your skin, hair and eyes. Melanoma usually shows up as a dark spot on your skin or begins as a mole. Melanoma can also develop in the eye. Advanced melanomas can spread to other parts of the body, like your lymph nodes, lungs or liver.

Menarche

The time in a woman's life when menstrual periods begin.

Menopause

Menopause is when menstrual periods stop because the ovaries are producing low levels of hormones or almost none at all. Menopause is sometimes called the ""change of life.

Metastasis

The spread of cancer to another location in the body.

Metastatic cancer

Metastatic cancer is cancer that spreads to a different part of the body. For example, if lung cancer spreads to the bone, it is called metastatic lung cancer, not bone cancer.

Midcycle

Midcycle is the approximate two days during a month when a woman has ovulated and her oocyte (immature egg) is traveling through her fallopian tubes, where it may meet a sperm and fertilization can take place. Midcycle usually happens around days 14 through 16, after a woman's first day of menstrual bleeding.

Modified radical mastectomy

A modified radical mastectomy is a surgery for breast cancer in which the breast, the lining over the chest muscles, and some or all of the nearby lymph nodes are removed. Sometimes the surgeon also removes part of the chest wall muscles.

Morphology

Morphology is the shape of the sperm. The morphology is considered normal if at least 30 percent of the sperm have an ideal shape. Some labs use the Kruger scoring system, which is stricter, so that a sample would be called normal if only 14 percent of sperm cells had ideal shapes.

Motility

Motility is the percentage of sperm actively swimming around. At least 50% of the sperm should be motile. Only the sperm that are able to swim quickly to the egg and fertilize it are of any use when trying to conceive a pregnancy.

Multiple myeloma

Multiple myeloma is cancer of the plasma cell. Plasma cells are found in lymphatic tissue and produce antibodies to help fight infection.

Mumps orchitis

Mumps orchitis is a viral infection of the testicle that can occur when a man gets the mumps. It often scars the affected testicle, lowering a man's semen quality and possibly affecting his fertility.