Cancer and Oncology Terms

A benign (not cancer) growth made up of an abnormal mixture of cells and tissues normally found in the area of the body where the growth occurs.

A substance being studied in the treatment of several types of lymphoma.

A substance being studied in the treatment of brain cancer.

The short form used in oncology for drugs acting on the packaging of DNA rather than on the sequence written in it.

Cancer that arises in the head or neck region (in the nasal cavity, sinuses, lips, mouth, salivary glands, throat, or larynx [voice box]).

Tumors that spread to the heart from cancer elsewhere in the body are considerably more common than cancer that originates in the heart itself.

A type of therapy in which radiation is aimed at a tumor from many different directions.

A type of cancer involving blood vessels and soft tissue.

A rare cancer of the cells lining blood vessels, which is why it can begin almost anywhere in the body.

A cancer of the blood or bone marrow, such as leukemia or lymphoma.

A drug used in photodynamic therapy that is absorbed by tumor cells.

A procedure to deliver chemotherapy directly to the liver.

A tumor of immature liver tissue in very young children, and among the more treatable childhood cancers when caught early.

Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common primary liver cancer, arising directly from liver cells and closely linked to cirrhosis and chronic viral hepatitis.

Hepatoma is an older, imprecise term for a liver tumor and has often been used to mean hepatocellular carcinoma.

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

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

A type of herpesvirus that may cause Kaposi sarcoma (a rare cancer that can cause skin lesions) and a type of lymphoma (cancer that begins in the lymph system), especially in patients who have a…

An intensive drug treatment to kill cancer cells, but that also destroys the bone marrow and can cause other severe side effects.

A type of lymphoma that grows and spreads quickly and has severe symptoms.