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Glossary

Showing 1031-1040 out of 1156 Terms

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  • Spirituality

    (SPEER-ih-choo-A-lih-tee)

    Having to do with deep, often religious, feelings and beliefs, including a person’s sense of peace, purpose, connection to others, and beliefs about the meaning of life.

  • Spleen

    (spleen)

    An organ that is part of the lymphatic system. The spleen makes lymphocytes, filters the blood, stores blood cells, and destroys old blood cells. It is located on the left side of the abdomen near the stomach.

  • Stage

    stayj

    The extent of a cancer in the body. Staging is usually based on the size of the tumor, whether lymph nodes contain cancer, and whether the cancer has spread from the original site to other parts of the body.

  • Staging

    STAY-jing

    Performing exams and tests to learn the extent of the cancer within the body, especially whether the disease has spread from where it first formed to other parts of the body. It is important to know the stage of the disease in order to plan the best treatment.

  • Staging system

    (STAY-jing SIS-tem)

    A system that is used to describe the extent of cancer in the body. Staging is usually based on the size of the tumor and whether the cancer has spread from where it started to nearby areas, lymph nodes, or other parts of the body.

  • Standard medical care

    (STAN-durd MEH-dih-kul kayr)

    Treatment that is accepted by medical experts as a proper treatment for a certain type of disease and that is widely used by healthcare professionals. Also called best practice, standard of care, and standard therapy.

  • Standard therapies

    (STAN-durd THAYR-uh-pees)

    Treatment that is accepted by medical experts as a proper treatment for a certain type of disease and that is widely used by healthcare professionals. Also called best practice, standard medical care, and standard of care.

  • Stem cell

    stem sel

    A cell from which other types of cells develop. For example, blood cells develop from blood-forming stem cells.

  • Stem cell rescue

    (stem sel REH-skyoo)

    A method of replacing blood-forming stem cells that were destroyed by treatment with high doses of anticancer drugs or radiation therapy.

  • Stem cell transplant

    (stem sel TRANZ-plant)

    A procedure in which a patient receives healthy blood-forming cells (stem cells) to replace their own that have been destroyed by disease or by the radiation or high doses of anticancer drugs that are given as part of the procedure. The healthy stem cells may come from the blood or bone marrow of the patient, from a donor, or from the umbilical cord blood of a newborn baby. A stem cell transplant may be autologous (using a patient’s own stem cells that were collected and saved before treatment), allogeneic (using stem cells donated by someone who is not an identical twin), or syngeneic (using stem cells donated by an identical twin).