Recurrent minor aphthous ulcers or canker sores : Which is the right terminology?

Yes, in part. Canker sores are a type of aphthous ulcer. In the most specific of terms only "recurrent minor aphthous ulcer" and "recurrent minor aphthous stomatitis" should be considered to be universally interchangeable with "canker sore."

The term "aphthous" is a derivative of the Greek word "aphtha" which means ulceration. The term "canker" is a derivative of the Latin word "cancer." But don't be confused, aphthous ulcers are not a type of cancer.

Also, don't confuse aphthous ulcers with other types of lesions that have names sounding similar to the word "canker." A "chancre sore" is a type of lesion that is associated with the disease syphilis, and these sores are not related to aphthous ulcers.

The terms "cankor" and "kankor" seem to be common misspellings of the word "canker" and thus should typically be considered to be a reference to aphthous ulcers. We would have assumed that the term "kanker sore" should also be categorized as a misspelling, and therefore yet another term for an aphthous ulcer. To our surprise, a quick search of the web demonstrated that the term "kanker sore" most commonly refers to the title of a song by a rock band. Hmmm...? Yuck!