Tools from corpus linguistics and translation-oriented terminography can usefully integrate a method of analysis aimed at identifying the connotative potential of medical vocabulary. In particular, we will apply these tools to the somatic vocabulary present in specialized and popularized medical texts relating to the field of oncology. In a situation of translation from Italian into French, we will present, as a representative example, the pairs of terms seno/mammella and sein/mamelle which, beyond any obvious cross-language similarities, manifest very different connotations that the translation process must take into account.