Medical terms beginning with T

A T cell is an immune cell, matured in the thymus, that attacks infected or abnormal cells or helps direct the immune response.

White cells schooled in a gland behind the breastbone, and the reason a transplanted organ is recognized as belonging to somebody else.

The immune system's own restraint, written in shorthand: a cell whose entire purpose is stopping other cells from going too far.

A t test is a statistical method that determines whether an observed difference between the average values of two groups likely reflects a real effect.

A thyroid hormone.

An aggressive (fast-growing) type of leukemia (blood cancer) in which too many T-cell lymphoblasts (immature white blood cells) are found in the bone marrow and blood.

Treatment to destroy T cells, which play an important role in the immune response.

A type of leukemia in which large T lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell) that contain granules (small particles) are found in the blood.

A group of lymph system cancers arising from the immune cells that direct and carry out attacks rather than make antibodies.

A type of leukemia in which large T lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell) that contain granules (small particles) are found in the blood.

A type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in which too many T-cell lymphoblasts (immature white blood cells) are found in the lymph nodes and spleen.

A word-order variant of the same name, describing the cell that decides when an immune response has gone on long enough.

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

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

Three chemotherapy drugs given together for breast cancer, the letters taken from their older trade names.

An abbreviation for a chemotherapy combination used with other types of therapy to treat breast cancer.

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

A fast heart is usually the body responding correctly to something else, and the real question is what that something else is.

Tachypnea is a breathing rate that is abnormally high for a person’s age and clinical circumstances.

Tacrolimus suppresses the immune system by blocking a step in T cell activation, and is used mainly to prevent rejection after organ transplantation.

Its long duration sets it apart from others in its class, and it is the one also used for urinary symptoms of an enlarged prostate.

A protein/sugar complex found on the surface of many cancer cells, including breast, colon, and pancreatic cells.

Constant transfer of weight through a slow sequence trains balance in a way that seated exercise and straight-line walking do not.

The small bone at the bottom of the spine.

The use of communication, drugs, or other types of treatments that are specific for an individual or a group to improve health or change behavior.

A substance being studied in the treatment of cancer, including certain types of lung, pancreas, and brain cancer.

A substance being studied in the treatment of cancer, including certain types of lung, pancreas, and brain cancer.

Talactoferrin is a laboratory made version of human lactoferrin studied as an investigational treatment, without established approved use.

A drug being studied in the treatment of kidney cancer that has spread.

A substance that is being studied in the treatment of brain tumors and other brain disorders, such as epilepsy and Parkinson disease.

A drug used in photodynamic therapy.

A soft mineral with two unrelated medical stories: one about sealing a chest cavity shut, the other about what else the rock contains.

Treatment of mental, emotional, personality, and behavioral disorders using methods such as discussion, listening, and counseling.

A substance that is being studied in the treatment of leukemia and some other types of cancer.

Timing dominates this one: it stops new virus particles escaping infected cells, so it does most good early, before the infection has peaked.

Selective is the operative word, since the same drug blocks estrogen in breast tissue while imitating it in bone and the uterus.

A tablet that blocks estrogen in breast tissue while imitating it elsewhere, which explains both its benefits and its risks.

Relief arrives in days rather than months, because the drug changes muscle tone instead of shrinking the gland causing the obstruction.

It does not shrink the prostate at all; it slackens the muscle wrapped around the outlet, so any relief arrives within days.

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

A substance being studied in the treatment of cancer.

A drug used to treat certain types of non-small cell lung cancer.

Treatment aimed at a single molecule a disease leans on, rather than at every fast-dividing cell in the body.

A drug used to treat skin problems caused by cutaneous T-cell lymphoma that have not gotten better after other treatment.

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

Tasigna targets the specific abnormal protein responsible for driving cell growth in a genetically defined form of chronic leukemia.

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

Yew-derived chemotherapy that freezes the cell's internal scaffolding solid, which is the opposite of what the other scaffolding drugs do.

A drug used with prednisone to treat hormone-resistant prostate cancer that has spread and that had been treated with docetaxel.

Taxol is the brand name for paclitaxel, a chemotherapy drug that stops cancer cells from dividing by disrupting their internal skeleton.

A brand of docetaxel, a chemotherapy drug that works by freezing the internal scaffolding a cell needs in order to divide.

Tazarotene is a topical retinoid medication used primarily to treat psoriasis and acne by normalizing skin cell growth and turnover.

A laboratory-made cousin of vitamin A whose established job is calming psoriasis and acne, not the cancer uses it is sometimes listed under.

Infection and disease are not the same thing here, and most people who carry the bacteria never become ill or infectious.

An Australian shrub with no relation to tea, whose oil is applied to skin and poisons children who swallow it.

A radiolabeled substance that is used to help identify sites of tumor development.

The word is loose in everyday speech, and several roles it gets applied to carry a formal title of technologist, reflecting longer training.

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

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

A substance used to treat bacterial infections.

Tiny surface vessels stretched permanently wide, visible as red threads that fade under pressure and refill the moment it lifts.

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

Distance stops being the obstacle, but a physical examination does not travel down a video link, so some visits cannot be replaced.

The enzyme that rebuilds chromosome ends, switched off in most adult tissue and switched back on in the great majority of cancers.

Telomeres are protective caps of repetitive DNA at chromosome ends that shorten with each cell division, limiting how many times a cell can divide.

The brand name for temozolomide, one of the few chemotherapy drugs that reaches brain tissue in useful amounts.

An anticancer drug that is also used in cancer prevention.

An oral chemotherapy that reaches brain tissue unaided, which is why it anchors treatment of the most aggressive brain tumors.

A drug used to treat advanced renal cell carcinoma (a type of kidney cancer).

Tendons are tough fibrous cords that transmit a muscle's pulling force to bone, distinct from ligaments that connect bone to bone.

Tissue from painful tendons usually shows disorganized collagen rather than inflammatory cells, which is why tendinopathy has largely replaced the name.

An anticancer drug that is a podophyllotoxin derivative and belongs to the family of drugs called mitotic inhibitors.

A procedure in which mild electric currents are applied to some areas of the skin.

A type of germ cell cancer that usually forms in the testes (testicles).

Its tissues are recognizable and in the wrong place, and whether that tissue is fully formed matters less in the testis than in the ovary.

An alpha blocker that relaxes the muscle collar around the bladder outlet, easing urine flow within days rather than months.

A drug used to treat urinary problems caused by an enlarged prostate.

A terminal disease has progressed beyond the possibility of cure, shifting the aim of care toward comfort rather than reversing the underlying condition.

A repeating five carbon unit builds all of them, which is why pine, citrus peel and lavender share one family of scent compounds.

Sperm production needs a temperature the abdomen cannot provide, which is why these glands hang outside the body in a thin skinned pouch.

Testicular cancer is a cancer of the testis that most often affects younger and middle-aged men and includes two main tumor types.

A cord-like structure in the male reproductive system that contains nerves, blood and lymph vessels, and the vas deferens (a coiled tube that carries sperm out of the testicle).

A testimonial is a personal account claiming benefit from a product, offered without the controlled evidence needed to confirm the claim scientifically.

The formal name for the male gonad, used in anatomy and reports, where the plural testes and the adjective testicular both appear constantly.

A hormone made mainly in the testes (part of the male reproductive system).

A substance that is derived from the toxin released by the bacterium that causes the disease tetanus.

A device used to look at tissues in the esophagus.

A substance being studied in the treatment of cancer.

One quirk explains both its research use and its drawback: the drug locks on to calcium wherever bone and teeth are forming.

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

A substance that makes tumor cells more sensitive to radiation therapy and is being studied in the treatment of cancer.

A substance that is being studied as an anticancer drug.

Less a relay station than a gatekeeper, since it decides which signals reach awareness and which are damped down before arriving.

A sedative withdrawn after causing catastrophic birth defects, later brought back under strict control for myeloma and leprosy reactions.

A drug that is used to treat multiple myeloma in patients who have just been diagnosed, and a painful skin disease related to leprosy.

The gap between a helpful amount and a harmful one is narrow, which is why blood levels are checked during treatment.

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

The label marks intent rather than outcome, so a therapeutic dose is one aimed at benefit, not one guaranteed to deliver it.

A hand-hovering practice performed mostly without contact, resting on an energy field that testing has repeatedly failed to detect.

One of the least specific words in medicine, it marks that treatment is happening while the word in front of it carries the detail.