Cancer and Oncology Terms

A chimeric (made from human and mouse proteins) monoclonal antibody being studied in the treatment of advanced kidney cancer and other types of cancer.

A T cell that has been coated with monoclonal antibodies to enhance its ability to kill tumor cells.

A radioactive form of the metal cobalt, which is used as a source of radiation to treat cancer.

A research study that compares a particular outcome (such as lung cancer) in groups of individuals who are alike in many ways but differ by a certain characteristic (for example, female nurses who…

A substance being studied in the treatment of cancer.

A substance being studied in the treatment of cancer.

Few cancers offer such a long warning: the polyp stage lasts years, and removing one prevents the cancer that would have followed.

Because a polyp usually takes years to turn malignant, this is one of the few cancers screening can prevent rather than merely find early.

Treatment using more than one anticancer drug.

A substance being studied in the treatment of cancer.

A type of ductal carcinoma in situ (very early-stage breast cancer).

Surgery to remove all metastases (tumors formed from cells that have spread from the primary tumor).

The disappearance of all signs of cancer in response to treatment.

The best result a scan can show, and a statement about the limits of measurement as much as about the cancer.

A rare form of lymphoma (cancer that begins in cells of the immune system) in which different types of lymphoma cells occur at the same time.

A type of kidney tumor that is usually found before birth by ultrasound or within the first 3 months of life.

Treatment that is given after cancer has disappeared following the initial therapy.

Lymphoma in which the lymph nodes containing cancer are next to each other.

Four initials from an older era of lymphoma treatment, built by swapping out the harshest drug in the regimen that came before.

A bacterium that may stimulate the immune system to fight cancer.