Blood and Lymphatic System Terms

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.

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

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

A rare condition in which chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) changes into a fast-growing type of lymphoma.

A slow leukemia that has been quiet for years turning abruptly into an aggressive lymphoma, usually announced by one rapidly swelling node.

Stripping out B cells treats both a cancer of those cells and diseases in which the same cells drive an attack on the body.

Because CD20 is absent from stem cells and from antibody-producing plasma cells, the B cell population rebuilds and existing immunity is largely kept.

SAHA belongs to a drug class that works by altering how tightly DNA is packaged within a cell, rather than damaging the DNA directly.

Granulomas of sarcoid look almost identical to those of tuberculosis under the microscope, so infection has to be excluded before the label is applied.

Some cases settle on their own without treatment while others scar the lungs permanently, and the two are hard to tell apart early on.

A substance that helps make more white blood cells, especially granulocytes, macrophages, and cells that become platelets.

A type of skin cancer on or under the skin that has spread from the primary tumor through the lymph system and is not more than 2 centimeters away from the original tumor.

A drug used to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

SCID is a group of rare inherited disorders in which T lymphocyte function is severely impaired, leaving the immune system unable to fight infection.

The node a surgeon samples instead of clearing a whole basin, chosen not for being nearest but for being first in line.

Removal and examination of the sentinel node(s) (the first lymph node(s) to which cancer cells are likely to spread from a primary tumor).

The use of dyes and radioactive substances to identify the first lymph node to which cancer is likely to spread from the primary tumor.

The brain and gut supplies are separate, because the molecule cannot cross from blood into brain tissue, and each pool works on its own.

Serum is the clear fluid left after blood clots, containing proteins, hormones, and other dissolved substances but no cells or clotting factors.