Medical terms beginning with M

A test that measures the strength of the muscles used in breathing.

A type of breast imaging test that is used to detect cancer cells in the breasts of some women who have had abnormal mammograms, or who have dense breast tissue.

miRNA molecules are short strands of RNA that bind messenger RNA to block protein production, providing cells a way to fine-tune gene activity.

One drug with two unrelated jobs: it shields the stomach lining from anti-inflammatory damage and it makes the uterus contract.

A plant that lives partly off the tree it grows on, and the source of a widely debated injected therapy.

A substance that comes from the mistletoe plant and that is being studied as a treatment for cancer.

A drug used to treat some types of testicular cancer.

A deliberately modest word: it promises less of a problem, never none of it, which is why precision about the amount matters.

Muscle and nerve fail first when these break down, because those tissues burn the most energy and store the least.

A substance being studied in the treatment of some leukemias and lymphomas.

Mitomycin is an antitumor antibiotic that damages DNA to treat certain cancers and is also applied topically during some eye surgeries.

Cells rely on mitosis for both growth and the routine replacement of worn out tissue, producing two daughter cells with matching genetic material.

Having to do with the presence of dividing (proliferating) cells.

The process a cell goes through each time it divides.

In a population of cells, the ratio of the number of cells undergoing mitosis (cell division) to the number of cells not undergoing mitosis.

Chemotherapy drugs that jam the machinery pulling chromosomes apart, so a dividing cell stalls partway through and dies.

A drug used to treat advanced prostate cancer that does not respond to hormones, adult acute nonlymphocytic leukemia, and advanced or chronic multiple sclerosis.

A brain tumor that forms from more than one type of brain cell, usually astrocytes and oligodendrocytes.

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

Concentration is what turns a volume into a dose, which is why milliliters and milligrams can never be swapped for each other.

A substance being studied as a treatment for atherosclerosis (a build-up of fat in the arteries).

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

A substance that is being studied in the treatment of prostate cancer.

Easy to confuse with mm for millimeter and with mmol for a plain amount, the capital M is the part that signals a concentration.

A substance being studied in the treatment of cancer.

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

A placeholder word: it signals that one method among several is meant, and the surrounding sentence has to supply which.

Removal of the whole breast together with the armpit lymph nodes, sparing the chest muscles the older operation sacrificed.

Surgery to remove most, but not all, of the vulva (the external female genital organs, including the clitoris, vaginal lips, and the opening to the vagina).

Modulate means to adjust the strength or activity of a biological process or treatment up or down, rather than switching it fully on or off.

A surgical procedure used to treat skin cancer.

A surgical procedure used to treat skin cancer.

A molar pregnancy occurs when abnormal fertilization causes placental tissue to overgrow into fluid filled cysts instead of a viable embryo.

Whether mold matters to health depends far more on the species and on the person exposed than on the presence of mold itself.

A benign (not cancer) growth on the skin that is formed by a cluster of melanocytes (cells that make a substance called melanin, which gives color to skin and eyes).

The process of identifying a disease by studying molecules, such as proteins, DNA, and RNA, in a tissue or fluid.

A biological molecule found in blood, other body fluids, or tissues that is a sign of a normal or abnormal process, or of a condition or disease.

The sum of the atomic masses of all atoms in a molecule, based on a scale in which the atomic masses of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen are 1, 12, 14, and 16, respectively.

A branch of medicine that develops ways to diagnose and treat disease by understanding the way genes, proteins, and other cellular molecules work.

A series of actions among molecules in a cell that leads to a certain end point or cell function.

In cancer treatment, substances that kill cancer cells by targeting key molecules involved in cancer cell growth.

Molecules form when atoms bond together, and biological versions such as proteins and DNA can involve thousands of atoms arranged in specific structures.

Three delivery routes, one purpose: putting a steroid exactly where the inflammation is so the rest of the body sees very little of it.

Monitor refers both to the ongoing observation of a person's condition over time and to a device that records or displays patient data.

A monoclonal antibody is a laboratory-made protein engineered to bind one specific target, with uses spanning cancer, autoimmune disease, and infection.

A laboratory finding rather than an illness: identical B cells circulating in numbers too low to count as leukemia.

Time in the bloodstream is a transit stage rather than the job; the real work begins once the cell settles in tissue.

The single unit a chain is built from, whether that chain is a plastic, a starch, a protein or a strand of DNA.

A mixture of oil and water that is combined with a specific antigen to boost the immune response to that antigen.

Taken regularly to prevent symptoms rather than to relieve an attack, montelukast also carries a prominent warning about mood and behavior changes.

An abbreviation for a chemotherapy combination used alone or with radiation therapy to treat Hodgkin lymphoma.

A monoclonal antibody being studied in the treatment of some types of cancer.

A judgment about right and wrong conduct, which in health care sits alongside law and professional rules rather than inside them.

A disease or the incidence of disease within a population.

A tropical shrub.

Shape treated as evidence: what a cell, an organ or a whole organism looks like, before asking what it does or is made of.

As a medical descriptor, motor relates to muscle movement or to the nerves and brain regions directing it, as in motor neuron or motor cortex.

The use of special strains of mice to study a human disease or condition, and how to prevent and treat it.

Burning a dried herb at or above the skin to heat a chosen point, a practice defined by warmth where acupuncture is defined by needles.

Moxifloxacin is a broad spectrum antibiotic from the fluoroquinolone class, used to treat various bacterial infections.

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

No x-rays are involved, which is one reason this scan is used so heavily in neurology, orthopedics and pediatric imaging.

Measuring how much of it a cell holds is the standard way to judge whether a particular gene is switched on or off.

A substance that is being studied for its ability to make cancer cells respond better to chemotherapy drugs to which they have become resistant.

A substance that is being studied in the treatment of cancers of the blood.

MSI marks a defect in a cell's DNA repair machinery, seen as changes in short repeated DNA sequences, most notably in colorectal and endometrial tumors.

A ceiling found by pushing upward until harm appears, which suits chemotherapy and fits modern targeted drugs poorly.

The cell's growth switch, wired to read food, energy and hormone signals before deciding whether building is affordable.

A drug used to treat some types of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and severe skin conditions, such as psoriasis.

A substance found on certain epithelial cells (cells that cover organs, glands, and other body surfaces) and on breast cells involved in making milk.

A protein/sugar compound made by some cancer cells.

A pathologist's word for tissue that looks and feels like jelly, because its cells are pouring out the protein that thickens mucus.

A type of cancer that begins in cells that line certain internal organs and produce mucin (the main component of mucus).

Mucosa is the moist membrane lining internal passages and cavities such as the mouth, gut, and airways, often producing protective mucus.

Mucositis most often affects the lining of the mouth and digestive tract, commonly appearing as painful sores following certain cancer treatments.

The moist, inner lining of some organs and body cavities (such as the nose, mouth, lungs, and stomach).

Mucus is a viscous, protective fluid that coats and moistens internal surfaces, trapping particles and helping shield the tissue beneath it.

A type of monoclonal antibody used in cancer detection or therapy.

A rare cancer of the uterus, ovary, or fallopian tubes.

A clinical trial that is carried out at more than one medical institution.

Breast cancer in which there is more than one tumor, all of which have formed separately from one another.

In medicine, a term used to describe a treatment planning approach or team that includes a number of doctors and other health care professionals who are experts in different specialties (disciplines).

A treatment planning approach in which a number of doctors who are experts in different specialties (disciplines) review and discuss the medical condition and treatment options of a patient.

Adaptation of tumor cells to anticancer drugs in ways that make the drugs less effective.

Treatment used to make cancer cells less resistant to anticancer drugs.

Breast cancer in which there is more than one tumor, all of which have arisen from one original tumor.

Therapy that combines more than one method of treatment.

A rare, inherited disorder that affects the endocrine glands and can cause tumors in the parathyroid and pituitary glands and the pancreas.

A rare, inherited disorder that affects the endocrine glands and can cause tumors in the parathyroid and pituitary glands and the pancreas.

An inherited disorder marked by the formation of many noncancerous growths called hamartomas.

Harm arrives from two directions at once: cells crowding the marrow, and the abnormal protein those cells pour into the circulation.

Scattered patches of damage explain the scattered symptoms, since what a person notices depends entirely on which pathway has been hit.

Multiplicity describes the presence of more than one instance of a finding, such as several tumors or lesions, within the same patient or organ.

A small green legume better known as a sprout, and one of many foods given cancer claims that its nutrition does not support.

A drug being studied in the treatment of young adults with bone cancer that has gotten worse or come back.

Muscle shrinking because it is not being used, not being fed, or is being broken down faster than the body rebuilds it.

Bone alone cannot move and muscle alone cannot hold shape, which is why the two are named, examined and treated as one system.

Music therapy is a credentialed clinical practice using structured musical activities, guided by a trained therapist, to address physical, emotional, or cognitive treatment goals.

A drug used to treat some types of cancer and some skin conditions that may become cancer.

A mutagen is any physical or chemical agent capable of altering a cell's DNA, with ultraviolet light and certain chemicals among the most familiar examples.