Medical terms beginning with C

Chondrocytes are the sole resident cells of cartilage, embedded within the tissue's own matrix and responsible for producing and maintaining it.

A long sugar chain bristling with negative charge, which drags in water and lets cartilage spring back after every step.

Chondrosarcoma is a cancer that forms in cartilage, most often affecting the pelvis, ribs, or the ends of long bones.

CHOP is a four drug chemotherapy combination built from cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone, most often used to treat non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

An abbreviation for a chemotherapy combination that is used to treat non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

A rare midline bone tumor grown from embryonic leftovers, slow to develop but stubbornly local and prone to returning.

A type of cancer that grows into the muscular wall of the uterus.

The membrane in hens' eggs that helps chicken embryos get enough oxygen and calcium for development.

A malignant, fast-growing tumor that develops from trophoblastic cells (cells that help an embryo attach to the uterus and help form the placenta).

A fast-growing tumor of placental cells that reaches the lungs early yet responds remarkably well to chemotherapy.

A malignant, fast-growing tumor that develops from trophoblastic cells (cells that help an embryo attach to the uterus and help form the placenta).

A malignant, fast-growing tumor that develops from trophoblastic cells (cells that help an embryo attach to the uterus and help form the placenta).

A thin layer of tissue that is part of the middle layer of the wall of the eye, between the sclera (white outer layer of the eye) and the retina (the inner layer of nerve tissue at the back of the…

A rare type of cancer that occurs in the ventricles of the brain.

A type of cell that makes neurohormones (chemicals that are made by nerve cells and used to send signals to other cells) and releases them into the blood.

Chromatography is a laboratory technique that separates the components of a mixture as they travel at different rates through an absorbing material.

Packaging is the point, since the DNA in one cell would stretch about two meters and chromosomes fold it to fit inside a nucleus.

The word says nothing about how serious a problem is, only that it has lasted, and a chronic illness may be entirely stable.

Inflammation of the prostate gland that is caused by a bacterial infection and that continues or gets worse over a long period of time.

A disease in which too many eosinophils (a type of white blood cell) are found in the bone marrow, blood, and other tissues.

A condition lasting for more than 6 months in which a person feels tired most of the time and may have trouble concentrating and carrying out daily activities.

A slowly progressing disease in which too many white blood cells (not lymphocytes) are made in the bone marrow.

A progressive, chronic disease in which the bone marrow is replaced by fibrous tissue and blood is made in organs such as the liver and the spleen, instead of in the bone marrow.

Slow growing blood cancers whose cells mature far enough to function, which is why they are so often found by accident.

This slow-progressing blood cancer results from an acquired genetic change that causes the bone marrow to overproduce white blood cells.

A slowly progressing type of myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative disease in which too many myelomonocytes (a type of white blood cell) are in the bone marrow, crowding out other normal blood cells…

A disease in which too many neutrophils (a type of white blood cell) are found in the blood.

The problem is emptying rather than filling: air enters well enough but cannot get back out of a lung that has lost its recoil.

Pain that can range from mild to severe, and persists or progresses over a long period of time.

Refers to the early stages of chronic myelogenous leukemia or chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

A procedure that uses gold salts (a salt form of the metal element gold) to treat diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis.

A drug that is being studied in the treatment of solid tumors.

A milky-white fluid that forms in the small intestine during digestion.

A substance being studied in the treatment of some types of cancer.

A substance being studied in the treatment of some types of cancer.

An anticancer drug that belongs to the family of drugs called mitotic inhibitors.

A substance being studied in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.

A part of the middle layer of the wall of the eye.

A condition in which slightly abnormal cells grow on the thin layer of tissue that covers the cervix.

A condition in which moderately abnormal cells grow on the thin layer of tissue that covers the cervix.

A condition in which abnormal cells grow on the thin layer of tissue that covers the cervix (the lower, narrow end of the uterus).

Abnormal cells are found in the cervical epithelium (the innermost lining of the cervix).

A closed loop that delivers oxygen and fuel to every cell and carries away what those cells no longer need.

The heart and its network of vessels, a closed loop delivering oxygen and fuel to tissue and carrying waste away.

Surgery to remove part or all of the foreskin (loose skin that covers the head of the penis).

A type of chronic, progressive liver disease in which liver cells are replaced by scar tissue.

One of the older SSRIs, distinguished within the class less by how well it works than by its effect on the heart's electrical timing.

A drug used to lessen the toxic effects of substances that block the action of folic acid, especially the anticancer drug methotrexate.

Melanoma that is found only in the epidermis (outer layer of skin).

Melanoma that has spread from the epidermis (outer layer of skin) down into the papillary dermis (the thin top layer of the dermis).

Melanoma that has spread down through the papillary dermis (the thin top layer of the dermis) but not into the reticular dermis (the thick bottom layer of the dermis).

Melanoma that has spread down into the reticular dermis (the thick bottom layer of the dermis).

Melanoma that has spread down into the subcutaneous tissue (tissue beneath the skin).

A system for describing how deep melanoma has spread into the skin.

The most common type of Hodgkin lymphoma, which is a cancer of the immune system.

The only bony strut between the arm and the trunk, lying under thin skin where it can be seen and felt along its whole length.

A type of cell that looks clear inside when viewed under a microscope.

A rare type of tumor, usually of the female genital tract, in which the insides of the cells look clear when viewed under a microscope.

A description of what the cells look like on a slide, applied to tumors that arise in several unrelated organs.

A soft tissue tumor that begins in a tendon (tough, fibrous, cord-like tissue that connects muscle to bone or to another structure).

A rare type of kidney cancer, in which the inside of the cells look clear when viewed under a microscope.

A shape rather than an event: the cell was never cut, and the folded outline is simply what a pathologist reports seeing.

Ordained religious leaders, and in hospitals a formal part of the care team rather than visitors from outside it.

The word draws one line above all others: between what is observed in a real patient and what is produced away from the bedside.

A physical exam of the breast performed by a health care provider to check for lumps or other changes.

Recommendations assembled from the evidence by a panel, written to inform a decision rather than to dictate what happens to any one person.

A clinical researcher studies health and disease using patient data or direct patient contact to help develop and evaluate new treatments.

The failure of a cancer to shrink after treatment.

A case series in which the patients receive treatment in a clinic or other medical facility.

The stage of cancer (extent of cancer in the body) that is based on tests that are done before surgery.

A method used to determine the stage of cancer (extent of cancer in the body).

A type of research study that tests how well new medical approaches work in people.

Assignment is the whole point, since deciding who receives what is what allows a study to demonstrate cause rather than mere association.

A clinician is a trained health professional who directly evaluates, diagnoses, or treats patients, as opposed to working solely in research or administration.

Cells that look mature and behave uselessly accumulate for years, which is why a diagnosis often arrives long before any treatment does.

An indolent (slow-growing) cancer in which immature lymphocytes (white blood cells) are found in the blood and bone marrow and/or in the lymph nodes.

A drug used in the treatment of hypercalcemia (abnormally high levels of calcium in the blood) and cancer that has spread to the bone (bone metastases).

An old blood pressure drug also used for ADHD, tics, hot flashes and opioid withdrawal, all through the same calming action on nerve traffic.

A drug that turns the sympathetic nervous system down at its source in the brain, which is why its uses reach far beyond blood pressure.

Clostridium difficile is a spore forming bacterium that causes diarrhea and colon inflammation, often following antibiotic use that disrupts normal gut bacteria.

The combination that first proved chemotherapy after surgery could stop breast cancer returning, now largely overtaken by newer schedules.

CML is a slow progressing blood cancer marked by overproduction of white blood cells, most often driven by a specific chromosomal abnormality.

A marrow disorder sitting between two families of blood disease, defined by a stubbornly high count of one white cell type.

CMV is the abbreviation for cytomegalovirus, a herpesvirus that most often causes no illness but can be serious during pregnancy or immune suppression.

A substance found in certain plants, including blessed thistle.

CNS designates the brain and spinal cord together, the central hub that processes information and coordinates the body's motor and sensory activity.

Cancer that has spread from the original (primary) tumor to the central nervous system (CNS).

A type of cancer that arises from a particular type of cell within the brain or spinal cord.

Chemotherapy or radiation therapy given to the central nervous system (CNS) as a preventive treatment.

Chemotherapy or radiation therapy given to the central nervous system (CNS) as a preventive treatment.

A tumor of the central nervous system (CNS), including brain stem glioma, craniopharyngioma, medulloblastoma, and meningioma.

A chimeric (made from human and mouse proteins) monoclonal antibody being studied in the treatment of advanced kidney cancer and other types of cancer.

Growing two cell types side by side, because a cell studied in isolation answers only half of the question.

A drug used in the treatment of infections caused by bacteria and protozoa.

A T cell that has been coated with monoclonal antibodies to enhance its ability to kill tumor cells.

The only vitamin that contains a metal, and the only one the liver can stockpile for years at a time.

A radioactive form of the metal cobalt, which is used as a source of radiation to treat cancer.

The coccyx, or tailbone, is the small triangular bone at the base of the spine formed from several fused segments.

A rare inherited disorder of DNA repair marked by failure to grow, sun sensitivity and a progressive loss of skills.

An alternative practice with a long history in fringe cancer regimens and no demonstrated effect against any disease.