Glossary

This glossary provides explanations for terms and concepts commonly used throughout the project. It also aims to support a shared understanding and collaboration, aligning with the principles of Open Science.
The glossary is organized alphabetically. Terms that include illustrations are particularly relevant to the Cancer Prevention at Work project.
Please review the concepts listed below and feel free to download and use the accompanying icons.

1st Level 2nd Level 3rd Level

Carcinogen

1st Level

A chemical, physical or biological agent that can cause cancer in humans or animals.

Cancer

1st Level

Cancer is a disease caused when cells divide uncontrollably and spread into surrounding tissues and other parts of the body. Cancer is a genetic diseas- it is caused by changes to genes that control the way human cells function, especially how they grow and divide.

Cancer prevention

1st Level

Cancer prevention is action taken to lower the risk of getting cancer. This can include maintaining a healthy lifestyle, avoiding exposure to known cancer-causing substances, and taking medicines or vaccines that can prevent cancer from developing.

Cervical cancer

1st Level

A type of cancer that develops in the cervix (the lower, narrow end of the uterus). Cervical cancer is almost always caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), which is spread through sexual contact.

Cost-effectiveness of the interventions

1st Level

In health and medicine refers to the assessment of the economic value of a medical intervention by comparing its costs to its health benefits, typically measured in terms of cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained or cost per life year saved. This evaluation helps determine whether an intervention provides sufficient health benefits to justify its costs, guiding decisions on resource allocation in healthcare.

Genital HPV

1st Level

There are over 190 different types of HPV, and 40 of them affect the anogenital area.
HPV Types 16 and 18 cause about 70 % of cervical cancer cases.
HPV Types 6 and 11 cause about 90 % of genital warts cases.

Health and safety program

1st Level

A systematic combination of activities, procedures, and facilities designed to ensure and maintain a safe and healthy workplace.

Health capital

1st Level

Health capital refers to the resources individuals possess that support effective engagement with healthcare systems and shape other health-related practices. These resources include social networks (family and community support), economic means (financial stability for medical expenses), and cultural knowledge (health literacy and communication skills). Health capital influences a person’s ability to manage health needs, navigate care pathways, and build relationships with healthcare professionals.

Helicobacter pylori

1st Level

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a 0.5–1 µm wide, 2–4 µm long, short helical, S-shaped Gram-negative bacteria. It is mostly found in the pyloric region of the stomach. It is estimated that it infect more than half of the world’s population.

Helicobacter pylori eradication

1st Level

Helicobacter pylori eradication means completely removing or killing the Helicobacter pylori bacteria from the stomach to prevent or treat stomach ulcers, gastritis, and stomach cancer. The main method is antibiotic therapy, which often involves a combination of two antibiotics (like clarithromycin and amoxicillin or metronidazole) and a proton pump inhibitor (PPI). In more resistant cases, a quadruple therapy that includes a PPI, bismuth subsalicylate, and two antibiotics is used. Sequential therapy starts with a PPI and amoxicillin, then switches to a PPI with clarithromycin and metronidazole. Adding probiotics can improve success rates and reduce side effects. Dietary changes, like avoiding spicy foods, caffeine, and alcohol, can also help. Follow-up testing, such as the urea breath test or stool antigen test, is necessary to confirm the bacteria are gone. If the first treatment fails, a different antibiotic combination or quadruple therapy may be needed.

Helicobacter pylori chronic infection

1st Level

Chronic infection with H pylori causes atrophic and even metaplastic changes in the stomach, and it has a known association with peptic ulcer disease. The most common route of H pylori infection is either oral-to-oral or fecal-to-oral contact via water or food consumption.

Helicobacter pylori diagnosis

1st Level

Serology tests employ enzyme linked immunosorbent assay to detect serum H. pylori–specific immunoglobulin G antibodies.

Hepatitis C prevention

1st Level

There is no effective vaccine against hepatitis C. The best way to prevent the disease is to avoid contact with the virus.
Extra care should be used in healthcare settings and for people with a higher risk of hepatitis C virus infection.
People at higher risk include those who inject drugs, men who have sex with men, and those living with HIV.

Ways to prevent hepatitis C include:

safe and appropriate use of healthcare injections
safe handling and disposal of needles and medical waste
harm-reduction services for people who inject drugs, such as needle exchange programs, substance use counselling and use of opiate agonist therapy (OAT)
testing of donated blood for the hepatitis C virus and other viruses
training of health personnel
practicing safe sex by using barrier methods such as condoms.

HPV vaccines

1st Level

Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines work by preventing infections prior to natural exposure. Thus, it is likely more effective at younger ages, and it is important to understand how effectiveness might be diminished when administered at older ages. HPV vaccine protects against cancer caused by HPV and against genital warts.

HPV treatment and care

1st Level

There is no treatment for the virus itself. However, there are treatments for the health problems that HPV can cause.

Human paillomavirus infection

1st Level

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a common sexually transmitted infection which is the cause of several cancers, specially cervical cancer, and genital warts. Other types of cancers, including cancers of the anus, penis, vagina, vulva and back of the throat (oropharyngeal cancers), have been linked to HPV infection.

Impact

1st Level

Potential for scaling up and replicating the piloted interventions. Potential to inspire similar interventions.

Occupational risk

1st Level

The likelihood of a harmful effect such as an accident or occupational disease occurring within a specified period or in specific circumstances such as during or after specified exposure. It may be expressed either as a frequency, such as the number of harmful eects in a certain time period, or as a probability, such as the probability of a harmful eect during or after exposure.

Occupational disease

1st Level

Health condition or disorder that is directly associated with exposure to risk factors arising from work activities or the work environment. These diseases can result from physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic, or psychosocial hazards and typically develop over time due to chronic exposure. Examples include respiratory diseases from inhaling dust or chemicals, skin conditions from contact with irritants, and musculoskeletal disorders from repetitive motions or poor ergonomics.

Occupational cancer

1st Level

Occupational cancers are those that occur due to exposure to carcinogenic (cancer-causing) agents in the workplace.

Virus potentially related to cancer of the cervix, head and neck and anogenital organs

1st Level

Human papilloma virus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the world. Almost 80% of the world’s population is exposed by the age of 50. HPV can cause oropharyngeal, genital, and anal cancers. It also causes genital warts. There is no cure for HPV but vaccines are available to prevent infection by the most common HPV viruses; unfortunately, usage is low. Most people will clear HPV spontaneously. Those who do not are at high risk for developing malignancy. Treatment mainstays are destruction and excision of the lesions. Hathaway et al 2012.

Workers’ health surveillance

1st Level

Workers’ health surveillance is a generic term which covers procedures and investigations to assess workers’ health in order to detect and identify (early) signs of abnormality. The main aim is the prevention of occupational and work-related diseases and injuries. The results of surveillance should be used to protect and promote the health of the individual, collective health at the workplace, and the health of the exposed working population. Health assessment procedures may include, but are not limited to, medical examinations, biological monitoring, radiological examinations, questionnaires or a review of health records. Preferably the starting point is a risk assessment at the workplace to identify a health hazard or risk.

Workplace

1st Level

Any place where physical and/or mental labour occurs, whether paid or unpaid. This includes formal worksites, private homes, vehicles, or outdoor locations on public or private property.

Barriers and facilitators for implementation

2nd Level

Contextual factors that are associated with implementation of practices, including individual, social, organisational and societal factors as well as characteristics of practices that are implemented (e.g. their adaptability).

Microbiological agent

2nd Level

Any living organism (for example, virus, bacteria or fungi) that affects the body, a part of the body, or any of its functions. The effects may be beneficial or harmful.

Biological carcinogenic agents

2nd Level

Biological carcinogenic agents are living organisms or their byproducts that can cause cancer in humans. These agents include viruses (e.g., human papillomavirus, hepatitis B and C,), bacteria (e.g., Helicobacter pylori), and parasites (e.g., Schistosoma haematobium). These biological agents promote cancer through various mechanisms, including genetic mutations, chronic inflammation, or disruption of normal cellular processes.

EMA – Gardasil 9

2nd Level

Gardasil 9 is a vaccine used in males and females from the age of nine years to protect against the following conditions caused by nine types of the human papillomavirus (HPV types 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52 and 58):
– precancerous lesions (growths) and cancers in the cervix, vulva or vagina, anus and oropharynx;
– genital warts.

Implementation outcomes

2nd Level

Consequences of implementation activities, including reach in a targeted population, uptake of planned practices, sustainment, and scale-up. Subjective experiences (acceptance, satisfaction etc.) are sometimes also considered implementation outcomes, although their correlation with actual uptake of practices is mixed and overall limited.

Implementation science

2nd Level

The scientific study of methods to promote the systematic uptake of research findings and other evidence-based practices into routine practice, and, hence, to improve the quality and effectiveness of health services. It includes the study of influences on healthcare professional and organisational behaviour.

Implementation strategies

2nd Level

Activities/interventions to enhance the implementation of practices, such as education, practice support, social influence, restructuring of processes, organisational development, financial incentives, and regulation. Many of these strategies are targeted at healthcare providers.

Incapacity for work

2nd Level

Incapacity for work refers to an individual’s inability to perform their job duties due to physical or mental health impairments. This condition can be temporary or permanent and may result from illness, injury, or chronic medical conditions. Incapacity for work is often assessed by healthcare professionals and can lead to adjustments in work responsibilities, medical leave, or disability benefits.

Laboratory Testing for HPV

2nd Level

HPV DNA test, HPV serology

OHS – Occupational health and safety

2nd Level

The discipline dealing with the prevention of work-related injuries and diseases as well as the protection and promotion of the health of workers. It aims at the improvement of working conditions and environment.

Risk assessment

2nd Level

The process of evaluating the risk to the health and safety of workers while at work arising from the circumstances of the occurrence of a hazard at the workplace. The aim of occupational risk assessment is to protect workers’ health and safety. A general framework on the risk assessment process is provided in standard ISO 31001. This standard describes risk assessment as the overall process of risk identification, risk analysis and risk evaluation.
Risk Identification: process of finding, recognising and describing risks;
Risk analysis: process to comprehend the nature of risk and to determine the level of risk;
Risk evaluation: process of comparing the results of risk analysis with risk criteria to determine whether the risk and/or its magnitude is acceptable or tolerable.
Under health and safety laws, all employers must carry out regular risk assessment.

Workers health surveillance

2nd Level

Health surveillance is a scheme of repeated health checks which are used to identify ill health caused by work. Health and safety law requires health surveillance when your workers remain exposed to health risks even after you have put controls in place. This is because control measures may not always be reliable, despite appropriate checking, training and maintenance. Health surveillance may include medical surveillance carried our by a competent occupational health doctor.

Workplace Health Promotion (WHP)

2nd Level

The Luxembourg Declaration on Workplace Health Promotion in the European Union: Workplace Health Promotion (WHP) is the combined efforts of employers, employees and society to improve the health and well-being of people at work. This can be achieved through a combination of:
• improving the work organisation and the working environment
• promoting active participation
• encouraging personal development

Chronic effect

3rd Level

A change that occurs in the body over a relatively long time (weeks, months, years) following repeated exposure or a single over-exposure to a substance.

Hazard

3rd Level

Source of potential harm or adverse health effect on a person or persons. Hazards can be physical (e.g., machinery, noise, or temperature), chemical (e.g., solvents, fumes, or dust), biological (e.g., bacteria, viruses, or mold), ergonomic (e.g., repetitive movements or improper workstation setup), or psychosocial (e.g., stress or harassment). Identifying and mitigating these hazards is crucial for ensuring a safe and healthy work environment.

Healthy Healthcare (HHC)

3rd Level

Healthy Healthcare (HHC) is a systemic perspective and approach to generate knowledge, develop strategies, policies and evidence-based decisions for a balanced management of a healthy and resilient healthcare organisation.

IARC

3rd Level

International Agency for Research on Cancer

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

3rd Level

According to the EU Directive 89/656/EEC article 2 personal protective equipment (PPE) means all equipment designed to be worn or held by the worker to protect him against one or more hazards likely to endanger his safety and health at work, and any addition or accessory designed to meet this objective.

Public health intervention

3rd Level

Public health interventions may be run by a variety of organizations, including governmental health departments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Common types of interventions include screening programs,[1] vaccination,[2] food and water supplementation, and health promotion.

Vaccine efficacy

3rd Level

Percentage reduction of disease in vaccinated group of people compared to an unvaccinated group, using the most favorable conditions, e.g. experimental setting.