Lung Cancer Medications Glossary of Terms

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

Acne: Localized skin inflammation as a result of overactivity of the oil glands at the ba...

Alkaloid: A member of a large group of chemicals that are made by plants and have nitrogen...

Allergic reaction: The hypersensitive response of the immune system of an allergic indiv...

Allergy: A misguided reaction to foreign substances by the immune system, the body system ...

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

Anthracycline: A member of a family of chemotherapy drugs that are also antibiotics. The a...

Antidepressant: Anything, and especially a drug, used to prevent or treat depression.

Antihistamines: Drugs that combat the histamine released during an allergic reaction by bl...

Antineoplastic: Acting to prevent, inhibit or halt the development of a neoplasm (a tumor)...

Arms: An appendage in anatomy and in clinical trials. See: Arm.

Aspirin: Once the Bayer trademark for acetylsalicylic acid, now the common name for this a...

Bladder: A hollow organ in the lower abdomen that stores urine. The kidneys filter waste f...

Blood pressure: The blood pressure is the pressure of the blood within the arteries. It is...

Blurred vision: Lack of sharpness of vision with, as a result, the inability to see fine d...

Bone marrow: The soft blood-forming tissue that fills the cavities of bones and contains f...

Bowel: The small and large intestine.

Brain: The portion of the central nervous system that is located within the skull. It func...

Breathing: The process of respiration, during which air is inhaled into the lungs through ...

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

Cardiac: Having to do with the heart.

Cell: The basic structural and functional unit of any living thing. Each cell is a small c...

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

Chest: The area of the body located between the neck and the abdomen. The chest contains t...

Chest pain: Pain in the chest that can be a result of many things, including angina, heart...

Chills: feelings of coldness accompanied by shivering. Chills may develop after exposure t...

Cisplatin: An anticancer drug that belongs to the family of drugs called platinum compound...

Clinical trial: A study that is intended to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of medic...

Clinical trials: Trials to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of medications or medical...

Congestive heart failure: Inability of the heart to keep up with the demands on it, with f...

Constipation: Infrequent and frequently incomplete bowel movements. Constipation is the op...

Cough: A rapid expulsion of air from the lungs, typically in order to clear the lung airwa...

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

Dizziness: Painless head discomfort with many possible causes including disturbances of ...

DNA: Deoxyribonucleic acid. One of two types of molecules that encode genetic information...

Dry skin: Abnormally dry skin. Can be caused by a dry climate, winter weather, deficiency...

Ejection fraction: The percentage of blood that is pumped out of a filled ventricle as a r...

Epidermal: Pertaining to the epidermis, the outermost layer of the skin.

Epidermal growth factor: EGF.

Epidermal growth factor receptor: EGFR.

Fever: Although a fever technically is any body temperature above the normal of 98.6 degr...

Folate: Folic acid, one of the B vitamins that is a key factor in the synthesis (the makin...

Folic acid: One of the B vitamins that is a key factor in the synthesis (the making) of nu...

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

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

Hair loss: Hair loss is the thinning of hair on the scalp. The medical term for hair loss ...

Headache: A pain in the head with the pain being above the eyes or the ears, behind the he...

Heart: The muscle that pumps blood received from veins into arteries throughout the body. ...

Heart failure: Inability of the heart to keep up with the demands on it and, specifically...

Herbal: 1. An adjective, referring to herbs, as in an herbal tea.
2. A...

Hives: A raised, itchy area of skin that may be a sign of an allergic reaction. It can be ...

Ibuprofen: A nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that is commonly used to treat pa...

Incidence: The frequency with which something, such as a disease or trait, appears in a pa...

International normalized ratio: A system established by the World Health Organization (WHO...

Itching: An uncomfortable sensation in the skin that feels as if something is crawling on ...

Kidney: One of a pair of organs located in the right and left side of the abdomen. The kid...

Leukemia: Cancer of the blood cells. Strictly speaking, leukemia should refer only to canc...

Lightheadedness: A feeling you are "going to faint." Lightheadedness is medically distinc...

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

Low blood pressure: Any blood pressure that is below the normal expected for an individua...

Lung cancer: Cancer of the major organ of respiration - the lung. Lung cancer kills more m...

Marrow: The bone marrow.

Medical school: A school with a curriculum leading to a medical degree. The mission of eve...

Metabolic: Relating to metabolism, the whole range of biochemical processes that occur wit...

Metabolism: The whole range of biochemical processes that occur within a living organism. ...

Mouth: 1. The upper opening of the digestive tract, beginning with the lips and con...

Muscle: Muscle is the tissue of the body which primarily functions as a source of power. T...

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

Non-small cell lung cancer: Cancer of the lung which is not of the small cell carcinoma (o...

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

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

Pharmacist: A professional who fills prescriptions and, in the case of a compounding pharm...

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

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

Platelet: An irregular, disc-shaped element in the blood that assists in blood clotting....

Platelet count: The calculated number of platelets in a volume of blood, usually expressed...

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

Rash: Breaking out (eruption) of the skin. A rash can be caused by an underlying medical c...

Receptor: 1. In cell biology, a structure on the surface of a cell (or inside a cel...

Red blood cell: The blood cell that carries oxygen. Red cells contain hemoglobin and it is...

Seizure: Uncontrolled electrical activity in the brain, which may produce a physical conv...

Shortness of breath: Difficulty in breathing. Medically referred to as dyspnea. Shortness ...

Small cell lung cancer: A type of lung cancer in which the cells appear small and round un...

Sore: 1. (adjective) A popular term for painful, such as a sore throat. 2. (...

Sore throat: Pain in the throat. Sore throat may be caused by many different causes, inclu...

Stage: As regards cancer, the extent of a cancer, especially whether the disease has spre...

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...

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

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

Throat: The throat is the anterior (front) portion of the neck beginning at the back of th...

Tiredness: See: Tired.

Topoisomerase: A class of enzymes that alter the supercoiling of double-stranded DNA. (In ...

Toxicity: The degree to which a substance (a toxin or poison) can harm humans or animals. ...

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

Tyrosine: An amino acid, one of the 20 building blocks of protein. A nonessential amino ac...

Urine: Liquid waste produced by the kidneys. Urine is a clear, transparent fluid that norm...

Vinca alkaloid: A medication in a class of anticancer drugs that inhibit cancer cell growt...

Vitamins: The word "vitamin" was coined in 1911 by the Warsaw-born biochemist Casimir Funk...

Vomit: Matter from the stomach that has come up into and may be ejected beyond the mouth, ...

Warfarin: An anticoagulant drug (brand names: Coumarin, Panwarfin, Sofarin) taken to prev...

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

Wheezing: A whistling noise in the chest during breathing. Wheezing occurs when the airway...

White blood cell: One of the cells the body makes to help fight infections. There are seve...

White blood cell count (leukocyte count): The number of white blood cells (WBCs) in the b...

Zidovudine: See: AZT.