Immune System and Allergy Terms

A protein found in many types of tumors but not in most normal tissues.

A cancer that can sometimes be driven into retreat by treating the infection that provoked it rather than by chemotherapy.

One of a group of aggressive (fast-growing) non-Hodgkin lymphomas that begin in mature T lymphocytes (T cells that have matured in the thymus gland and gone to other lymphatic sites in the body…

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

A monoclonal antibody that is being studied in the treatment of some lymphomas.

A monoclonal antibody that is being studied in the treatment of certain lymphoproliferative disorders and psoriasis.

A cancer vaccine prepared from human melanoma cancer cells.

Three delivery routes, one purpose: putting a steroid exactly where the inflammation is so the rest of the body sees very little of it.

A monoclonal antibody is a laboratory-made protein engineered to bind one specific target, with uses spanning cancer, autoimmune disease, and infection.

Time in the bloodstream is a transit stage rather than the job; the real work begins once the cell settles in tissue.

A mixture of oil and water that is combined with a specific antigen to boost the immune response to that antigen.

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

A type of monoclonal antibody used in cancer detection or therapy.

A steroid aimed at one surface: the same molecule is sold as a cream and an inhaler, but under different names entirely.

Natural killer cells are innate immune cells that destroy virus infected and abnormal cells without needing prior exposure to a specific target.

Short lived by design: these cells are produced in vast numbers, survive briefly and die where they fight, which is what pus is.

An NK cell is a white blood cell of the innate immune system able to kill infected or abnormal cells on first contact.

A type of immune cell that has granules (small particles) with enzymes that can kill tumor cells or cells infected with a virus.

A rare type of Hodgkin lymphoma, which is a cancer of the immune system.

Named for what it is not, this family of lymphocyte cancers spans many separate diseases with very different growth rates and outlooks.