Cancer of the Small Intestine Glossary of Terms

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Abdomen: The belly, that part of the body that contains all of the structures between the...

Abdominal: Relating to the abdomen, the belly, that part of the body that contains all of ...

Abdominal pain: Pain in the belly. Abdominal pain can be acute or chronic. It may reflect ...

Abnormal: Outside the expected norm, or uncharacteristic of a particular patient.

Absorb: 1. To take something in, as through the skin or the intestine.
2....

Absorption: Uptake. For example, intestinal absorption is the uptake of food (or other sub...

Adenocarcinoma: A cancer that develops in the lining or inner surface of an organ and usua...

Adjacent: Lying nearby. Related terms include superjacent, subjacent, and circumjacent. Fr...

Alcohol abuse: Use of alcoholic beverages to excess, either on individual occasions (binge...

Anemia: The condition of having a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells or quantity ...

Bacterial: Of or pertaining to bacteria, as in a bacterial lung infection.

Barium: 1. A metallic element belonging to the alkaline earths with an atomic numbe...

Bile: Bile is a yellow-green fluid that is made by the liver, stored in the gallbladder a...

Bowel: The small and large intestine.

Bypass: An operation in which a new pathway is created for the transport of substances in ...

Cancer: An abnormal growth of cells which tend to proliferate in an uncontrolled way and, ...

Carcinoid tumor: A tumor which secretes large amounts of the hormone serotonin. Carcinoid ...

Celiac disease: A disorder resulting from an immune reaction to gluten, a protein found in...

Chemotherapy: 1. In the original sense, a chemical that binds to and specifically k...

Colon: The long, coiled, tubelike organ that removes water from digested food. The remaini...

Colonoscopy: A procedure whereby a physician inserts a viewing tube (colonoscope) into the...

Contrast: Short for "contrast media." Contrast media are X-ray dyes used to provide contra...

Crohn's disease: A chronic inflammatory disease, primarily involving the small and large ...

CT scan: Computerized tomography scan. Pictures of structures within the body created by a...

Diagnosis: 1 The nature of a disease; the identification of an illness. 2 A ...

Diarrhea: A common condition that involves unusually frequent and liquid bowel movements. ...

Endoscopy: Examination of the inside of the body by using a lighted, flexible instrument c...

Enzyme: A protein (or protein-based molecule) that speeds up a chemical reaction in a livi...

Familial: A condition that tends to occur more often in family members than is expected by...

Familial polyposis: An inherited condition in which several hundred polyps develop in the ...

Family history: The family structure and relationships within the family, including inform...

FAP: Familial adenomatous polyposis.

Fatigue: A condition characterized by a lessened capacity for work and reduced efficiency ...

FDA: Food and Drug Administration.

Fistula: An abnormal passageway in the body. The fistula may go from the body surface int...

Food and Drug Administration: An agency within the US Public Health Service that provides ...

Gastroenterology: The medical specialty devoted to the study, diagnosis and treatment of d...

Gastrointestinal: Adjective referring collectively to the stomach and small and large inte...

Gastrointestinal tract: The stomach and intestines. Abbreviated GI tract.

GI tract: Short for gastrointestinal tract. See: Gastrointestinal tract.

Gluten: A protein found in wheat or related grains and many foods that we eat. Gluten can ...

Ileum: Part of the small intestine beyond the jejunum and before the large intestine (colo...

Immune: Protected against infection, usually by the presence of antibodies.

Immune system: A complex system that is responsible for distinguishing a person from every...

Indicate: In medicine, to make a treatment or procedure advisable because of a particular ...

Inflammation: A localized reaction that produces redness, warmth, swelling, and pain as a ...

Intestine: The long, tubelike organ in the abdomen that completes the process of digestion...

Iron: An essential mineral. Iron is necessary for the transport of oxygen (via hemoglobin ...

Iron deficiency anemia: A common form of nutritional disorder, iron deficiency results in...

Jaundice: Yellow staining of the skin and sclerae (the whites of the eyes) by abnormally h...

Large bowel: Another name for the large intestine.

Liver: The largest solid organ in the body, situated in the upper part of the abdomen on t...

Lymph: The almost colorless fluid that travels through the lymphatic system, carrying cell...

Lymphoid: Referring to lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, or to tissue in which lymp...

Lymphoid tissue: The part of the body's immune system that is important for the immune res...

Lymphoma: A tumor of the lymphoid tissue. The major types of lymphoma are Hodgkin's diseas...

Malignancy: A tumor that is malignant (cancerous), that can invade and destroy nearby tiss...

Malignant: 1. Tending to be severe and become progressively worse, as in malignant ...

Metastasize: The spread from one part of the body to another. When cancer cells metastasiz...

Mucosa: Having to do with a mucous membrane. For example, the oral mucosa.

Nausea: Stomach queasiness, the urge to vomit. Nausea can be brought on by many causes, in...

Obstruction: Blockage of a passageway. See, for example: Airway obstruction; Intestinal o...

Oncology: The field of medicine that is devoted to cancer. Clinical oncology consists of t...

Onset: In medicine, the first appearance of the signs or symptoms of an illness as, for ex...

Organ: A relatively independent part of the body that carries out one or more special func...

Pain: An unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pa...

Pharmacy: A location where prescription medications are sold. A pharmacy is constantly sup...

Placebo: A "sugar pill" or any dummy medication or treatment.

Polyp: A mass of tissue that develops on the inside wall of a hollow organ, such as the co...

Prognosis: The forecast of the probable outcome or course of a disease; the patient's chan...

Radiation: 1. Rays of energy. Gamma rays and X-rays are two of the types of energy ...

Radiation therapy: The use of high-energy rays to damage cancer cells, stopping them from ...

Rectum: The last 6 to 8 inches of the large intestine. The rectum stores solid waste until...

Recurrence: The return of a sign, symptom, or disease after a remission. The reappearance ...

Rule out: Term used in medicine, meaning to eliminate or exclude something from considera...

Sarcoma: One of a group of tumors usually arising from connective tissue. Most sarcomas ar...

Scan: As a noun, the data or image obtained from the examination of organs or regions of...

Small bowel: Another name for the small intestine.

Small intestine: The part of the digestive tract that extends from the stomach to the larg...

Stomach: The digestive organ that is located in the upper abdomen, under the ribs. The upp...

Surgery: The branch of medicine that employs operations in the treatment of disease or inj...

Symptom: Any subjective evidence of disease. In contrast, a sign is objective. Blood comin...

Syndrome: A combination of symptoms and signs that together represent a disease process.

Therapy: The treatment of disease. Therapy is synonymous with treatment.

Tumor: An abnormal mass of tissue. Tumors are a classic sign of inflammation, and can be ...

Ultrasound: High-frequency sound waves. Ultra-sound waves can be bounced off tissues by us...

Weight loss: Weight loss is a decrease in body weight resulting from either voluntary (die...