Topic: Research terms
Toxicity is the degree to which a substance can damage an organism. Cancer treatments have some degree of toxicity, which can cause side effects.
The Australian regulatory body that ensures that health products, such as medicines and medical devices, are safe and effective to be used by the public.
The proportion of people diagnosed with the same disease who are still alive after a particular period of time.
Specificity is the probability of a laboratory test being negative if the patient does not have the disease in question. A test with high specificity has a low false-positive rate, which means it does a good job of correctly identifying unaffected individuals or noncarriers of a genetic variant.
The probability of a laboratory test being positive if the patient has the disease in question. A test with high sensitivity has a low false-negative rate, which means it does a good job of correctly identifying affected individuals or carriers of a genetic variant.
The group of people involved in designing, delivering and supporting a research project. This can include Chief Investigators, Associate Investigators, research assistants, students, clinicians, statisticians, project managers and lived experience representatives.
A person who takes part in a research study. This might involve completing a survey, being interviewed, providing a sample, joining a clinical trial or allowing information about their health to be used for research.
Actions taken to lower the chance of developing cancer. This can include changes to behaviour, medical care, vaccination, screening or changes in the environment. See also risk and risk factor.
Grouping people into different levels based on their likelihood of developing a certain health issue like cancer. This can help guide how often someone may need screening, follow-up or prevention support. See also risk assessment and risk prediction.
Estimating a person’s chance of developing cancer using information such as age, family history, lifestyle, environment, genes and other biological factors. See also risk, risk factor and genomic risk score.