Medical terms A–Z

The use of radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies to treat diseases, including cancer.

A type of systemic radiation therapy in which a radioactive substance is linked to an antibody that locates and kills tumor cells when injected into the body.

An unstable form of a chemical element that releases radiation as it breaks down and becomes more stable.

Any compound that has been joined with a radioactive substance.

A test that uses radiation or other imaging procedures to find signs of cancer or other abnormalities.

Most patients never meet the radiologist who reads their scan, though the report shapes what happens next as much as any bedside examination.

The name says radiation, yet several of the field's most used methods, ultrasound and magnetic resonance among them, involve none at all.

An unstable form of a chemical element that releases radiation as it breaks down and becomes more stable.

A procedure that produces pictures (scans) of structures inside the body, including areas where there are cancer cells.

A radiopharmaceutical is a medication containing a radioactive component, used to produce diagnostic images or deliver targeted radiation treatment.

The use of a drug that makes tumor cells more sensitive to radiation therapy.

A drug that makes tumor cells more sensitive to radiation therapy.

A type of external radiation therapy that uses special equipment to position the patient and precisely give a single large dose of radiation to a tumor.

High-energy radiation aimed at a tumor to break its DNA, given in many small doses so healthy tissue can recover.

Nothing about the gas can be sensed, so the only way to learn whether a building holds it is to measure the air.

A substance that is used to improve the health of the digestive system and bones and is being studied in the prevention of colon cancer.

Raloxifene is a medication used to prevent and treat osteoporosis and to lower breast cancer risk in certain postmenopausal women.

A drug used to reduce the risk of invasive breast cancer in postmenopausal women who are at high risk of the disease or who have osteoporosis.

An anticancer drug that stops tumor cells from growing by blocking the ability of cells to make DNA.

An approved antibody that starves tumors of new blood vessels by occupying the receptor rather than the growth signal itself.

Deciding treatment by chance, which remains the only method that balances the factors nobody involved thought to measure.

A study in which the participants are assigned by chance to separate groups that compare different treatments; neither the researchers nor the participants can choose which group.

A substance being studied in the treatment of cancer.

Named for the island where the soil bacterium was dug up, and the enzyme it blocks was later named after the drug.

Rapamycin, now known chiefly as sirolimus, suppresses immune activity by blocking a cell signaling pathway that lymphocytes and other cells need to divide.

Roughly a fifth of adult sleep, returning in longer and longer bouts so that it dominates the last hours before waking.

A procedure in which drugs that block the production of male hormones are alternated with male hormones and/or drugs that promote the production of male hormones.

A substance that acts quickly to treat moderate to severe pain.

A monoclonal antibody used to treat psoriasis (a chronic skin disease).

A family of genes that may cause cancer when they are mutated (changed).

A short piece of the ras protein, which is made by the ras gene.

A manufactured copy of an enzyme humans lost during evolution, given to strip uric acid out of the blood within hours.

One word covering an enormous range of skin eruptions, which is why clinicians describe the shape, spread and feel instead.

An eastern North American perennial herb.

An herb native to islands in the South Pacific.

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

A substance that is being studied in the treatment of infections caused by fungi.

RBC abbreviates red blood cell, the abundant blood cell that carries oxygen from the lungs to tissues throughout the body.

A reagent is a substance used in a laboratory reaction to detect, measure, or produce another substance, forming the basis of many diagnostic tests.

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

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

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

The lock a hormone, drug or nerve signal must fit before a cell will act on the message it carries.

Being on the receiving end of a donation is defined less by the material itself than by how well the two people match.

Recombinant describes DNA, proteins, or organisms engineered in a laboratory by joining genetic material from more than one source.

A drug used to increase the number of blood cells, especially platelets, in some cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

A drug used to treat some types of cancer.

A drug used to treat some infections caused by viruses and several types of cancer.

A form of tissue plasminogen activator that is made in the laboratory.

A drug used to treat high blood levels of uric acid in patients with leukemia, lymphoma, and other types of cancer who are receiving certain types of cancer treatment.

A doctor who can surgically reshape or rebuild (reconstruct) a part of the body, such as a woman's breast after surgery for breast cancer.

Surgery that is done to reshape or rebuild (reconstruct) a part of the body changed by previous surgery.

Getting better is not one event but a slope, and where the slope stops is what the word has to describe.

Recreational therapy uses structured activities such as arts, music, and sports to support physical, emotional, and social functioning during illness or disability.

One word doing two jobs: it either places a finding at the end of the bowel or names how a medicine was given.

Rectal cancer forms in the final segment of the large intestine nearest the anus and is often evaluated and treated somewhat differently from colon cancer.

Surgery to rebuild the rectum (the last several inches of the large intestine before the anus) using a section of the colon.

Inflammation of the mucous membrane that lines the rectum (the last several inches of the large intestine closest to the anus).

Storage rather than digestion is its job, and because it lies within reach it is one of the few bowel segments examined directly.

Recur means to happen again after a period of improvement or absence, describing the return of a symptom, condition, or disease.

Recurrence describes cancer returning after treatment, either near the original tumor site or in another part of the body.

Cancer that has recurred (come back), usually after a period of time during which the cancer could not be detected.

Not a cedar at all but a juniper, and the name is shared with an unrelated timber tree whose dust causes asthma.

A meadow legume sold for hot flashes because its isoflavones loosely mimic estrogen, on evidence that has stayed thin and mixed.

The fruit of the jujube plant.

The inner bark of this plant has been used in some cultures to treat certain medical problems.

Reduction most often describes restoring a broken bone or dislocated joint to its normal position, though the word also carries a distinct chemistry meaning.

A type of cell that appears in people with Hodgkin disease.

What travels is not only the patient but a question, and a referral without a clear question tends to produce an unclear answer.

Backward flow where a one-way arrangement is supposed to hold, and a word used far beyond the stomach it usually brings to mind.

A condition labeled refractory has not responded as expected to treatment, prompting reconsideration of the diagnosis or a change in approach.

Cancer that does not respond to treatment.

A substance being studied in the treatment of certain types of skin rash and skin pain in cancer patients.

Regeneration occurs at different rates across the body, from the liver's substantial capacity to regrow tissue to the limited repair seen in nervous system injury.

A treatment plan that specifies the dosage, the schedule, and the duration of treatment.

Whatever the specialty, the word draws a boundary around one area, and the specialty itself decides where that boundary falls.

A temporary loss of feeling or awareness in a part of the body, such as an arm or a leg, caused by special drugs or other substances called anesthetics.

Refers to cancer that has grown beyond the original (primary) tumor to nearby lymph nodes or organs and tissues.

Treatment with anticancer drugs directed to a specific area of the body.

Chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, most commonly the small intestine and colon.

In oncology, a lymph node that drains lymph from the region around a tumor.

A surgical procedure to remove some of the lymph nodes that drain lymph from the area around a tumor.

A registered dietitian is a credentialed nutrition professional who translates diet and nutrition science into individualized guidance supporting a patient's overall health.

Blocking dopamine explains both what this drug does for nausea and the movement problems that limit how long it is given.

Three fields borrowed the same Latin idea of going backward, and the meanings that resulted have almost nothing to do with each other.

Tolerance is not the absence of an immune response but an actively maintained one, and this is the cell that maintains it.

In medicine, a process to restore mental and/or physical abilities lost to injury or disease, in order to function in a normal or near-normal way.

A healthcare professional who helps people recover from an illness or injury and return to daily life.

Whether something has come back or merely resurfaced depends on whether it ever truly left, which the word alone does not settle.

A measure of the odds of an event happening in one group compared to the odds of the same event happening in another group.

A measure of the risk of a certain event happening in one group compared to the risk of the same event happening in another group.

A method used to reduce tension and anxiety, and control pain.

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

Recorded in a psychosocial history because it shapes how illness is understood, which support helps, and which decisions feel acceptable.

Relistor is a medication that relieves opioid induced constipation by blocking opioid effects in the gut without reducing pain relief.

The stage where the brain is busiest and the body stillest, held slack while the eyes dart behind closed lids.

Drowsiness and a bigger appetite come from strong histamine blockade, side effects that are sometimes the reason it is chosen.

A description of what tests and examination can find, which is why complete remission is not the same word as cure.

Initial treatment with anticancer drugs to decrease the signs or symptoms of cancer or make them disappear.

A type of internal radiation treatment in which the radioactive source is removed between treatments.