GLOSSARY* P-Z A-C D-K L-O P-Z
PALLIATIVE TREATMENT Therapy that relives symptoms, such as pain, but is not expected to cure cancer. Its main purpose is to improve the patient’s quality of life.
PALMAR-PLANTAR ERYTHRODYSESTHESIA (PPE) (COMMONLY CALLED HAND AND FOOT SYMDROME) This is a side effect of some types of chemotherapy. It is characterized by peeling, itching , burning, and reddened skin on the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet.
PARTIAL RESPONSE The partial shrinkage, without complete disappearance, of a tumor in response to therapy. Also called partial remission.
PHOTODYNAMIC THERAPY Treatment that destroys the cancer cells with light in combination with drugs that become active when exposed to light.
PHOTASENSITIVITY Extreme sensitivity to the sun, leaving the patient prone to sunburn or rash due to sunlight. This can be a side effect of some cancer drugs and radiation.
PLACEBO An inert, inactive substance that is not distinguishable in appearance from the active substance that may be used in clinical trials to compare the effects of a given treatment with no treatment.
PRECANCEROUS Abnormal cellular changes that are potentially capable of becoming cancerous.
PROGNOSIS The probable outcome or course of a disease; the chance of recovery.
PROPHYLACTIC MASTECTOMY Removal of breast tissue to avoid the risk of developing breast cancer.
PROSTATE ACID PHOSPHATASE (PAP) An enzyme produced by the prostate that is elevated in some patients with prostate cancer.
PROSTATECTOMY The surgical removal of the prostate gland.
PROSTATE-SPECIFIC ANTIGEN (PSA) A protein, measurable by a blood test, that is elevated in some patients with prostate cancer.
RADIATION THERAPY Treatment with high-energy rays to kill cancer cells.
RED BLOOD CELLS (RBCs) Red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body by using a red pigment called hemoglobin.
RELAPSE A return of the disease after it has been in remission following treatment.
REMISSION Disappearance of the signs and symptoms of cancer. When this happens, the disease is said to be “in remission.” Remission can be temporary or permanent, partial, or complete.
RESECTION Surgical removal or excision of tissue.
RESIDUAL DISEASE Cancer cells than remain after attempts have been made to eradicate the cancer.
RISK FACTOR Something that increases a person’s chance of developing a disease.
SENTINEL LYMPH NODE The lymph node that is first in the drainage system of an organ to entrap cancer cells. If the sentinel lymph node is found free of cancer, the likelihood of other nodes being full of cancer goes down tremendously, eliminating the need for their surgical removal and complications thereof.
SPUTUM CYTOLOGY A test in which mucus coughed up from the lungs or breathing tubes is examined under a microscope to detect cancer cells.
STAGE The extent of spread of a cancer.
STANDARD TREATMENT A treatment currently in use and considered to be the best known form of therapy on the basis of past studies.
STEREOTACTIC RADIOSURGERY (SRS) A special, focal from of radiation therapy that uses a large number of narrow, precisely aimed, high-dose beams of ionizing radiation. The beams are aimed from many directions and meet at a specific point: the tumor. The treatment is delivered in one session.
Stereotactic radiotherapy or fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery is stereotactic radiosurgery delivered in multiple fractions over a period of time.
STERIOD THERAPY Treatment with corticosteroid drugs to reduce swelling, pain, and other symptoms of inflammation.
SUPPORTIVE THERAPY Therapy that relieves the symptoms, such as nausea and vomiting, that are associated with cancer treatments. Its primary purpose is to improve the quality of life.
SYSTEMIC THERAPY Treatment that reaches and affects cells throughout the body.
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CONFORMAL RADIATION THERAPY A promising new technique in radiation therapy that decreases the exposure of normal tissue to radiation. Using computerized tomography (CT) scans and other imaging techniques, radiation oncologists have developed methods for determining the three-dimensional size and shape of the cancer. This allows high-dose external beam radiation therapy to be delivered with less damage to normal cells.
TOTAL-BODY IRRADIATION Radiation therapy to the entire body. Total-body irradiation has to be followed by bone marrow or peripheral stem cell transplantation to reconstitute the body’s ability to make blood cells.
TUMOR An abnormal mass of tissue caused by excessive cell growth and division. Tumors perform no useful body function and are either benign (not cancerous) or malignant (cancerous).
TUMOR MARKERS Substances found in abnormal amounts in the blood, in other body fluids, or in tumor tissue of some patients with certain types of cancer.
ULTRASOUND Ultrasound uses high-frequency sound waves and their echoes to create an image.
UNRESECTABLE Unable to be surgically removed.
WHITE BLOOD CELL COUNT (WBC) One of the subtypes of blood cells that helps fight infection.
*Caring4Cancer. (2008). Glossary. Cancer4Care (Vol. 3, Issue 3, pp. 77-80).
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© Copyright 2015. Cancer Crisis Fund is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.
home | about us |get involved | donate | resources | contact us
© Copyright 2015. Cancer Crisis Fund is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.