Medical terms beginning with B

A gland that reorganizes itself repeatedly across a lifetime, which is why what counts as normal in it keeps changing.

Receptor testing turned one disease into several, since what a tumor responds to now shapes treatment more than its size does.

There are 2 types of breast carcinoma in situ: ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS).

A description of what a mammogram shows rather than of how a breast feels, and it cannot be judged by touch.

A thin tube in the breast that carries milk from the breast lobules to the nipple.

A method used to examine the lining of the breast ducts to look for abnormal tissue.

A silicone gel-filled or saline-filled sac placed under the chest muscle to restore breast shape.

A section of the breast that contains the lobules (the glands that make milk).

A small part of a lobe in the breast.

Surgery to rebuild the shape of the breast after a mastectomy.

An exam by a woman of her breasts to check for lumps or other changes.

An operation to remove the breast cancer but not the breast itself.

An operation to remove the breast cancer but not the breast itself.

The long flat bone that forms the center front of the chest wall.

A questionnaire used to measure pain.

A substance being studied in the treatment of cancer.

A substance that is being studied in the treatment of infections caused by herpesvirus, including herpes-zoster (shingles).

Treatment to boost or restore the ability of the immune system to fight cancer, infections, and other diseases.

The bronchi are the two large air passages branching from the trachea, one into each lung, that form the lungs' main airway entrance.

Bronchial describes anything relating to the bronchi, the large airways connecting the windpipe to the lungs, as in bronchial asthma or bronchial breath sounds.

Cancer that forms in tissues of the bronchi (large air passages in the lungs including those that lead to the lungs from the windpipe).

A procedure in which cells are taken from the inside of the airways that lead to the lungs.

A procedure in which cells are taken from the inside of the airways that lead to the lungs.

A procedure in which cells are taken from the inside of the airways that lead to the lungs.

A bronchiole is one of the smallest airway branches in the lungs, carrying air from the larger bronchi toward the air sacs where gas exchange occurs.

Bronchiolitis obliterans is a rare, irreversible lung condition in which scarring narrows or blocks the smallest airways, sometimes following transplant or toxic exposure.

One word covers a self limiting cough after a virus and a lasting change in the airways caused by years of irritation.

A medicine that relaxes the muscle squeezing the airways, so a narrowed breathing tube opens up again.

An older umbrella name for lung cancer arising in the airway lining, still met in pathology reports and textbooks.

A bronchoscope is a thin, lighted instrument passed into the airway to directly view and sample tissue from the trachea and bronchi.

A procedure that uses a bronchoscope to examine the inside of the trachea, bronchi (air passages that lead to the lungs), and lungs.

The reversible half of an asthma attack: muscle squeezing airways shut, distinct from the swelling and mucus that clear far more slowly.

A bronchus is one of the two large airways connecting the trachea to a lung, continuing the path air follows into the smaller airways.

A substance being studied in the treatment of cancer.

A drug that makes cancer cells more sensitive to radiation and is also used as a diagnostic agent to determine how fast cancer cells grow.

Blood that escaped a broken vessel and has nowhere to go, changing color over days as the body dismantles it.

A delivery vehicle rather than a drug: its entire job is to sit inside the tumor and wait for a neutron beam.

A substance being studied in the treatment of breast cancers caused by mutations (changes) in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.

The inner lining of the cheeks.

Its usefulness rests less on potency than on delivery, since the liver destroys most of a swallowed dose before it reaches the wider body.

An eastern North American perennial herb.

An eastern North American perennial herb.

A substance, such as fiber in food, that adds bulk and water to stools so that they can pass more easily through the intestines (lower part of the digestive tract).

BUN is a blood test that measures urea nitrogen, a waste product cleared by the kidneys, to help assess kidney function.

Bupivacaine is a long acting local anesthetic widely used for regional nerve blocks, epidurals, and pain control after surgery.

Chosen as often for what it does not do, since weight gain and sexual side effects are less common than with serotonin antidepressants.

A roadside weed eaten as a vegetable in East Asia, sold as a blood cleanser, and the plant that inspired hook-and-loop fastening.

A rare, fast-growing type of leukemia (blood cancer) in which too many white blood cells called B lymphocytes form in the blood and bone marrow.

Burkitt lymphoma is a fast growing B-cell cancer of the lymphatic system that occurs in distinct forms across different populations.

A small opening in the skull made with a surgical drill.

Pain that worsens with joint movement, along with local swelling and warmth, are hallmark features of bursitis, inflammation of a fluid-filled cushioning sac.

Unlike a fast-acting sedative it does nothing useful in the moment, and its benefit appears only after steady daily use.

A bypass is a surgical procedure that creates an alternate route for blood or other body fluid around a blocked or diseased structure.