Medical terms A–Z

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A sedative withdrawn after causing catastrophic birth defects, later brought back under strict control for myeloma and leprosy reactions.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