Medical terms beginning with F

A radiolabeled substance being studied as an imaging agent in breast cancer.

A substance being studied in the prevention of palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia (pain, swelling, numbness, tingling, or redness of the palms of the hands or soles of the feet) in breast cancer…

A slender tube through which eggs pass from an ovary to the uterus.

A test result that indicates that a person does not have a specific disease or condition when the person actually does have the disease or condition.

A test result that indicates that a person has a specific disease or condition when the person actually does not have the disease or condition.

It runs through families on a single dominant gene, yet a sizeable share of cases begin with a brand new mutation.

Cancer that occurs in families more often than would be expected by chance.

A condition that runs in certain families in which at least two members have dysplastic nevi (atypical moles) and have a tendency to develop melanoma.

A rare inherited condition in which one or more tumors form in the parathyroid glands (four pea-sized organs found on the thyroid) and cause them to make too much parathyroid hormone.

An inherited form of medullary thyroid cancer (cancer that forms in the cells of the thyroid that make the hormone calcitonin).

Familial polyposis is an inherited disorder causing hundreds of colorectal polyps that carry a near certain lifetime risk of colorectal cancer.

A map of who in a family had what and when, and one of the cheapest risk assessments available in any consultation.

A record of the relationships among family members along with their medical histories.

A type of therapy in which the whole family talks with a professional counselor to solve family problems.

An inherited condition marked by the following: (1) one or more first- or second-degree relatives (parent, sibling, child, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, or uncle) with malignant melanoma; (2) many…

A rare inherited disorder in which the bone marrow does not make blood cells.

A type of radiation therapy that uses tiny particles called neutrons made by a machine called a cyclotron.

Fat necrosis is a benign condition in which damaged fat tissue can form a firm lump that closely mimics cancer on examination and imaging.

Persistent exhaustion that does not fully resolve with rest, fatigue can arise from physical illness, psychological strain, or simply insufficient sleep.

The chemical building block of fats, and the reason one fat behaves so differently from another.

A term used in mammography that refers to the replacement of breast tissue with fatty tissue.

Its remit is wide but not total, since meat and poultry, most supplements and much product advertising sit partly or wholly with other agencies.

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

A condition marked by fever and a lower-than-normal number of neutrophils in the blood.

FEC is a chemotherapy combination of three drugs given together for breast cancer, including disease that has spread or returned.

Inability to hold stool in the rectum.

Color carries most of the information, since bile pigment explains brown, its absence explains pale, and digested blood explains black.

A powdered form of fenretinide that is being studied in the treatment of neuroblastoma.

A moving state rather than a fixed one, since age, illness, surgery and treatment all shift it in either direction.

Fertility is the biological capacity to conceive, shaped by hormonal balance, reproductive organ function, and the quality of eggs or sperm.

A fetus is the developing human organism from the end of the embryonic period until birth, distinct from the earlier embryo stage.

Fever is a rise in body temperature above an individual's normal baseline, usually triggered by infection or another underlying inflammatory process.

Built to stay out of the brain, it blunts allergy symptoms without the sedation that older antihistamines are known for.

Two kinds behave quite differently in the gut: one dissolves into a gel, the other keeps its structure and adds bulk.

Fiberoptic describes thin, flexible strands that transmit light and images, a technology behind many internal medical viewing instruments.

A fibroadenoma is a common, benign breast tumor made of fibrous and glandular tissue, most frequent in younger women.

The cell that builds the body's structural framework, and the same cell that closes a wound by making a scar.

Lumpiness, tenderness and cysts that shift with the monthly cycle, common enough to be considered a normal variation.

The older name for ordinary cyclical breast lumpiness, kept in many records although the word disease is now considered inaccurate.

A benign smooth-muscle tumor, usually in the uterus or gastrointestinal tract.

Growths that invade locally and return after removal yet never travel to distant organs, sitting between benign and malignant.

Pain here is generated by altered processing within the nervous system, which is a mechanism rather than the absence of one.

A diagnosis that has shrunk as laboratory testing improved, since most tumors once given the name proved to be something else.

Fibrosis is the buildup of dense scar-like tissue in an organ, which can stiffen it and interfere with its normal function over time.

Fibrous tissue is made up of dense strands of connective fiber, giving it strength and structure but comparatively little flexibility.

The main sensory nerve of the head and face, and the motor nerve of the muscles used in chewing.

A rare inherited condition in which one or more tumors form in the parathyroid glands (four pea-sized organs found on the thyroid) and cause them to make too much parathyroid hormone.

A drug used to increase numbers of white blood cells in patients who are receiving chemotherapy.

Filler most often refers to an inactive ingredient bulking a medication, but the term also describes an injectable substance used to add facial volume.

The use of x-rays to create a picture of the breast on a film.

The removal of tissue or fluid with a thin needle for examination under a microscope.

The closest ring of biological family, parents, siblings and children, who share about half their genes with a given person.

Initial treatment used to reduce a cancer.

An abnormal opening or passage between two organs or between an organ and the surface of the body.

An ancient form of acupuncture based on the principle that there are five universal elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water) that affect a person's emotions, personality, health, and response…

An antibiotic/antifungal drug used to treat infection.

A pigment family coloring much of the plant world, and the clearest example of test tube antioxidant power failing to transfer into a body.

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

A rhythm-control drug rather than a rate-control one, limited to hearts without structural disease because of a documented safety concern.

Its real value is that it forces every branch to be stated, including the choices a written paragraph can leave comfortably vague.

Flow cytometry rapidly measures thousands of individual cells as they stream past a laser, characterizing their size, internal structure, and surface markers.

A grid in the chart where the same measurement is written again and again, so a trend shows at a glance.

A drug that increases the number of immune cells and may stimulate the immune system to kill cancer cells.

A chemotherapy drug that impersonates a DNA building block, used mainly against slow-growing blood cancers and before transplant.

Salt handling rather than swelling: this is the steroid given for what the kidney does with sodium, and it rarely works alone.

Fluid refers to any substance, liquid or gas, that flows and conforms to the shape of its container.

A laboratory technique used to look at genes or chromosomes in cells and tissues.

Fluorescence microscopy uses light-emitting dyes or naturally fluorescent molecules to make specific cells, proteins, or organisms visible against a dark background.

Fluoride is a mineral that strengthens tooth enamel and helps prevent decay, delivered through water, toothpaste, and dental treatments.

One of a group of substances used to treat cancer.

Fluoroquinolones are broad spectrum antibiotics that stop bacteria from replicating their DNA, used against a range of respiratory and urinary infections.

A fluoroscope is the imaging machine that produces continuous, real-time x-ray images, allowing clinicians to observe internal structures as they move.

Fluoroscopy is an imaging procedure that produces continuous, real-time x-ray pictures, commonly used to watch swallowed contrast or guide device placement.

It stays in the body far longer than the rest of its class, which softens the effect of a missed dose and of stopping.

Fluphenazine is a first generation antipsychotic medication used mainly to manage schizophrenia and other conditions involving psychosis.

Alone among the SSRIs sold in the United States, it carries no approval for depression, its labeled uses being obsessive-compulsive and social anxiety disorder.

A radioactive substance being studied as an imaging agent in head and neck cancers and other types of cancer.

The removal of tissue or fluid with a thin needle for examination under a microscope.

A screening test looking for bleeding too slight to see, on the logic that bowel tumors leak before they cause symptoms.

Focal describes a finding, change, or process confined to one specific location rather than spread throughout an organ or tissue.

Folate is a B vitamin essential for making red blood cells and DNA, distinct from folic acid, its synthetic supplement form.

A substance that blocks the activity of folic acid.

A three-drug infusion schedule for advanced bowel cancer, its name assembled from the folinic acid and irinotecan it contains.

FOLFOX is a chemotherapy regimen combining three drugs to treat colorectal cancer, with several dosing variants used in different clinical situations.

Folinic acid is a form of folate used to counteract the toxic effects of certain drugs that block folic acid activity in cells.

A follicle is a small, sac like cluster of cells, describing both egg containing structures in the ovary and hair bearing structures in the skin.

A rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (cancer of the lymphatic system) with large cells that look cleaved (split) or non-cleaved under the microscope.

Slow growth cuts both ways: the disease is usually widespread when found, yet often watched rather than treated at once.

An indolent (slow-growing) type of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (cancer of the lymphatic system) in which there are both small and large cancer cells.

Cancer that forms in follicular cells in the thyroid.

The giveaway is the pattern: every bump sits on a hair, which separates it from skin infections that spread without regard to follicles.

A hormone made in the pituitary gland.

Follow-up refers to the ongoing monitoring of a person's health or a study participant's status after initial treatment or evaluation.

Fondaparinux is a synthetic anticoagulant used to prevent and treat blood clots by blocking a specific clotting factor.

Anagency in the U.S.

The foreskin is a fold of skin that covers and protects the glans, or head, of the penis.

A form that must be filed by an investigator running a clinical trial to study a new drug or agent.

Formaldehyde is a simple, reactive chemical compound used as a preservative and disinfectant that is also classified as a known human carcinogen.

A substance being studied in the treatment of some types of leukemia and lymphoma.

Food carrying nutrients it never contained naturally, added deliberately to reach a whole population through the shopping basket.