Medical terms beginning with P

Treatment that is given after cancer has disappeared following the initial therapy.

Both unusually high and unusually low blood potassium levels can disrupt the heart's electrical rhythm, making this mineral closely monitored during illness.

A strong alkali used to make soap, and in the laboratory to dissolve skin so that fungus can be seen under a microscope.

In medicine, the effect of increasing the potency or effectiveness of a drug or other treatment.

An iodophor solution containing a water-soluble complex of iodine and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) with broad microbicidal activity.

Authority granted on paper while a person still has capacity, so that someone can act if capacity later slips away.

A hormone that mostly tells the pancreas to stop, released once a meal is under way and rising as the body ages.

A synthetic derivative of fumagillin with antineoplastic and cytotoxic properties.

A type of cancer that forms in bone or soft tissue.

Its presence usually means the estrogen pathway is working, since estrogen signaling is what switches this receptor on.

Mostly read as a second opinion on estrogen receptor status, since hormone treatment targets estrogen rather than progesterone.

The absence matters mainly in combination, since what it adds depends entirely on whether the estrogen receptor is present too.

A non-toxic, small-molecule, hypoxia-activated, 3,5-dinitrobenzamide nitrogen mustard pre-prodrug with potential antitumor activity.

A deliberately broad word, used in policies and forms precisely because it covers many licensed roles without naming any of them.

A folate analogue inhibitor of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) exhibiting high affinity for reduced folate carrier-1 (RFC-1) with antineoplastic and immunosuppressive activities.

One of the statins least entangled with other medicines, since it dissolves in water and skips the liver enzyme so many drugs compete for.

Pravastatin lowers LDL cholesterol by blocking a liver enzyme central to cholesterol production, and is prescribed to reduce cardiovascular risk.

The water-loving member of the statin family, which is why it sidesteps most of the drug interactions that trouble the others.

A term used to describe a condition that may (or is likely to) become cancer.

A skin disease marked by scaly or thickened patches on the skin and often caused by prolonged exposure to arsenic.