Medical terms A–Z

A brand name that never launched: the drug behind it survived, changed disease, and reached the market under another name.

An asthma tablet that blocks the receptor for leukotrienes, chemicals released during an allergic reaction that tighten the airways.

A drug used to prevent and to treat influenza virus infections.

A substance that is being studied in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and other types of cancer.

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

A drug that is used to treat certain types of non-small cell lung cancer and is being studied in the treatment of other types of cancer.

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

A substance that has been studied in the treatment of several types of cancer.

A substance that is being studied as a treatment for cancer.

Zestril is the brand name for lisinopril, a medication that lowers blood pressure by blocking a hormone that narrows blood vessels.

A monoclonal antibody that is used to treat certain types of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma and is being studied in the treatment and detection of other types of B-cell tumors.

In traditional Chinese medicine, the overall pattern read from a person, which directs treatment more than the disease name does.

A cone snail venom peptide turned painkiller, which works only when delivered straight into the fluid around the spinal cord.

Zidovudine, known as AZT, was the first antiretroviral drug approved to treat HIV infection by blocking viral replication.

An asthma tablet that shuts down the enzyme making leukotrienes, rather than blocking the receptors those chemicals act on.

The white paste on a lifeguard's nose and in diaper cream, working as a physical barrier rather than as an absorbed drug.

The soluble salt that actually delivers the element, unlike the insoluble oxide, which sits on the skin and delivers none of it.

A drug used to reduce heart damage in women given doxorubicin for breast cancer that has spread.

An infusion that shuts down the cells dismantling bone, given as rarely as once a year in some conditions.

Zoledronic acid is an intravenous bisphosphonate used to treat cancer-related high blood calcium and to reduce fractures from bone metastases.