Glossary
- Adjuvant Chemotherapy (ad'ju-vant kee mo-ther'a-pee):
- One or more anticancer drugs used in combination with surgery or radiation
therapy as part of the treatment of cancer. Adjuvant usually means "in
addition to" initial treatment.
- Antibody (an'ti-bod-ee):
- A protein produced by a plasma cell in the lymphatic system or bone
marrow. An antibody binds to the specific antigen that has stimulated the
immune system. Once bound the antigen can be destroyed by other cells of
the immune system. See Immune System.
- Antigen (an'tijen):
- A substance, foreign to the body, that stimulates the production of
antibodies by the immune system. Antigens include foreign proteins, bacteria,
viruses, pollen and other materials.
- Biological Therapy:
Use of biologicals (substances produced by our own cells) or biological
response modifiers (substances that affect the patient's defense systems)
in the treatment of cancer.
Blood Count:
- Bone Marrow (mair'oh):
- The inner, spongy core of bone that produces blood cells.
- Cancer (kan'ser):
- A general term for more than 100 diseases characterized by abnormal
and uncontrolled growth of cells. The resulting mass, or tumor, can invade
and destroy surrounding normal tissues. Cancer cells from the tumor can
spread through the blood or lymph to start new cancers in other parts of
the body.
- CCOP (Community Clinical Oncology Program):
- This new program links community physicians with NCI clinical research
programs, so that more cancer patients can participate in clinical trials
in their own communities.
- Chemotherapy (kee-mo-ther'a-pee):
- Treatment with anticancer drugs.
- Clinical Trial:
The systematic investigation of the effects of materials or methods,
according to a formal study plan and generally in a human population with
a particular disease or class of diseases. In cancer research, a clinical
trial generally refers to the evaluation of treatment methods, such as surgery,
drugs, or radiation techniques, although methods of prevention, detection,
or diagnosis also may be the subject of such studies.
- Combination Chemotherapy (kee-mo ther'a pee):
- Use of two or more anticancer drugs.
Combination Therapy (ther'a-pee):
- The use of two or more modes of treatment- surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy,
immunotherapy-in combination, alternately or together, to achieve optimum
results against cancer.
Control Group:
In clinical studies, this is a group of patients that receives standard
treatment, a treatment or intervention currently being used and considered
to be of proved effectiveness on the basis of past studies. Results in patients
receiving newly developed treatments may then be compared to the control
group. In cases where no standard treatment yet exists for a particular
condition, the control group would receive no treatment. No patient is placed
in a control group without treatment if there is any beneficial treatment
known for that patient.
Double-Blind:
Hormone:
Immune System:
- Immunotherapy (im-mew-no-ther'a-pee):
- A form of biological therapy. An experimental method of treating cancer,
using substances which stimulate the body's immune defense system.
Informed Consent:
The process in which a patient learns about and understands the
purpose and aspects of a clinical trial and then agrees to participate.
Of course, a patient may decline to participate. This process includes a
document defining how much a patient must know about the potential benefits
and risks of therapy before being able to agree to undergo it knowledgeably.
(Informed consent is required by federally conducted, funded, or regulated
studies as well as by many state laws.) If a patient signs an informed consent
form and enters a trial, he or she is still free to leave the trial at any
time, and can receive other available medical care.
Interferon- A protein substance produced by white blood cells and other types of
cells that have been exposed to certain viruses. In test animals, interferon
has shown some activity against tumors. Studies of its usefulness in treating
some types of human cancer are under way. One of a number of new agents
available as biological therapy.
Investigational New Drug:
A drug allowed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be used
in clinical trials but not approved by the FDA for commercial marketing.
Investigator:
Metastasis- The transfer of disease from one part of the body to another. In cancer,
metastasis is the migration of cancer cells from the original tumor site
through the blood and lymph vessels to produce cancers in other tissues.
Metastasis also is the term used for a secondary cancer growing at a distant
site.
Metastatic Cancer (met-a-stat'ik):
- Cancer that has spread from its original site to one or more additional
body sites.
Monoclonal Antibodies (mon-o-klone' al an'ti-bod-eez):
- One of several new substances used in biological therapy. These antibodies,
all exactly alike, are mass-produced and designed to home in on target cancer
cells. Monoclonal antibodies are products of new scientific techniques and
may prove useful in both cancer diagnosis and treatment.
- Multimodality Therapy (mul'ti-mo-dal'i-tee ther'a-pee):
- The combined use of more than one method of treatment, for example,
surgery and chemotherapy.
Oncologist (on-kol'ojist):
- A physician who is a cancer specialist.
PDQ:
A computerized database supported by NCI that is available to physicians
nationwide. Geographically matrixed, it offers the latest information on
standard treatments and ongoing clinical trials for each type and stage
of cancer. The information is easily accessible for physicians via libraries
and personal computers.
Placebo- An inactive substance resembling a medication, given for psychological
effect or as a control in evaluating a medicine believed to be active. It
is usually a tablet, capsule, or injection that contains a harmless substance
but appears to be the same as the medicine being tested. A placebo may be
compared with a new drug when no one knows if any drug or treatment will
be effective.
Protocol (pro'to-kol):
- The outline or plan for use of an experimental procedure or experimental
treatment.
- Radiation Therapy:
Treatment using X-rays, cobalt-60, radium, neutrons, or other types
of cell-destroying radiation (also called radiotherapy).
- Radiosensitizers (ray'dee-o-sen-si-ty'zers):
- Drugs being studied to try to boost the effect of radiation therapy.
Randomized Clinical Trials (ran duh'mized):
- A study in which patients with similar traits, such as extent of disease,
are chosen or selected by chance to be placed in separate groups that are
comparing different treatments. Because irrelevant factors or preferences
do not influence the distribution of patients, the treatment groups can
be considered comparable and results of the different treatments used in
different groups can be compared. (There is no way at the time for the researchers
to know which of the treatments is best. It is the patient's choice to be
in a randomized trial or not.) (See also Clinical Trials.)
- Regression (ree-gresh'un):
- The state of growing smaller or disappearing; used to describe the shrinkage
or disappearance of a cancer.
- Remission (ree-mish'un):
- The decrease or disappearance of evidence of a disease; also, the period
during which this occurs.
Risk/Benefit Ratio:
The relation between the risks and benefits of a given treatment
or procedure. Institutional Review Boards (IRBs), located where the study
is to take place, determine that the risks in a study are reasonable with
respect to the potential benefits. It is also up to the patient to decide
if it is reasonable for him or her to take part in a study.
- Side Effect:
- A secondary and usually adverse effect, as from a drug or other treatment.
For example, nausea is a side effect of some anticancer drugs.
- Single-Blind:
- (See Double-Blind.)
- Staging:
- Methods used to establish the extent of a patient's disease.
- Standard Treatment:
- A treatment or other intervention currently being used and considered
to be of proved effectiveness on the basis of past studies.
- Study Arm:
- Patients in clinical trials are assigned to one part or segment of a
study- a study "arm." One arm receives a different treatment from
another.
- Therapeutic (ther'a-pew'tik):
- Pertaining to treatment.