Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI): A diagnostic imaging procedure that uses magnets to show tissues with high fat and water content not seen with x-rays
Maintenance Treatment: A treatment given to a patient after cancer has responded to treatment, either as first-line maintenance (meaning after just one round of treatment) or after treatment for a recurrence. Maintenance therapy may extend the time until the cancer comes back
Menopause: The point in time when a person has gone 12 straight months without a menstrual period, marking the end of reproductive years.
Metastasis: The transfer or spreading of cancerous cells from their point of origin into other organs
Mismatch Repair (MMR): A process that fixes errors in the short, repeating pieces of DNA, called microsatellites, when DNA is copied in a cell
Mismatch Repair Deficiency (dMMR): A mutation that can be found in endometrial cancer that indicates a cell may have problems when creating copies of DNA in new cells
Mismatch Repair Proficiency/Proficient Mismatch Repair (pMMR): Refers to state of “normal” cells where the mismatch repair (MMR) is working correctly and fixing any errors in the cells
Microsatellite: The short, repeating pieces of DNA that is copied in a cell
Microsatellite Instability (MSI): A change that occurs in certain cells, like cancer cells, where the number of repeated pieces of DNA in a short, repeated sequence (called a microsatellite) is different from what it was when the microsatellite was inherited
Multidisciplinary Team: A healthcare team consisting of numerous doctors and other medical professionals who coordinate and collaborate to treat a person’s healthcare needs

Common Terms Related to Gynecologic Cancer