Cancer and Oncology Terms

A substance that makes tumor cells more sensitive to radiation therapy and is being studied in the treatment of cancer.

A sedative withdrawn after causing catastrophic birth defects, later brought back under strict control for myeloma and leprosy reactions.

A drug that is used to treat multiple myeloma in patients who have just been diagnosed, and a painful skin disease related to leprosy.

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

Not one disease: the three levels of the throat differ enough in cause and behavior that the shared name conceals more than it explains.

A cancer of the gland behind the breastbone that behaves nothing like the far commoner tumor it was once filed under.

A drug that blocks DNA synthesis and may prevent tumor cell growth.

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

A type of immune cell that can attack foreign cells, cancer cells, and cells infected with a virus.

A slow-growing growth in the front of the chest, often discovered because of unrelated muscle weakness.

Subtype governs almost everything about the outlook, so two people given the same diagnosis on paper can face very different diseases.

A substance being studied in the treatment of diarrhea caused by infection with Clostridium difficile (a type of bacteria that can grow without oxygen) in cancer patients.

A monoclonal antibody being studied in the treatment of melanoma and some other types of cancer.

An anticancer drug that is also used in cancer prevention.

A substance that is being studied in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and other types of cancer.

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

A laboratory-made copy of a milk protein, promoted against kidney and lung cancer until the late trials came back negative.

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

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

TNF related apoptosis inducing ligand, or TRAIL, is a natural immune protein that triggers programmed cell death in certain abnormal or infected cells.