Blood and Lymphatic System Terms

A group of diseases in which the bone marrow does not make enough healthy blood cells.

Cancer that forms in the lymph tissue of the brain, spinal cord, meninges (outer covering of the brain), or eye (called ocular lymphoma).

A rare, aggressive (fast-growing) type of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma marked by an abnormal build-up of fluids in a body cavity.

A progressive, chronic disease in which the bone marrow is replaced by fibrous tissue and blood is made in organs such as the liver and the spleen, instead of in the bone marrow.

The active ingredient in a drug that is used to treat advanced Hodgkin lymphoma and is being studied in the treatment of other types of cancer.

A type of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), in which too many immature white blood cells (prolymphocytes) are found in the blood and bone marrow.

An aggressive (fast-growing) type of acute myeloid leukemia in which there are too many immature blood-forming cells in the blood and bone marrow.

A type of photodynamic therapy used to treat skin conditions such as psoriasis, vitiligo, and skin nodules of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

R-CHOP is a five drug chemotherapy and immunotherapy combination that is the standard treatment for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

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

Surgery for breast cancer in which the breast, chest muscles, and all of the lymph nodes under the arm are removed.

Taking the whole kidney out inside its fatty envelope, an operation now kept for tumors too large or awkward to cut around.

Surgery to remove all of the prostate and nearby lymph nodes through an incision in the wall of the abdomen.

Surgery to remove the entire vulva (the external female genital organs, including the clitoris, vaginal lips, and the opening to the vagina) and nearby lymph nodes.

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.

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

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

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.

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