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Glossary

Showing 421-430 out of 1156 Terms

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  • Estrogen

    ES-truh-jin

    A type of hormone made by the body that helps develop and maintain female sex characteristics and the growth of long bones. Estrogens can also be made in the laboratory. They may be used as a type of birth control and to treat symptoms of menopause, menstrual disorders, osteoporosis, and other conditions.

  • Etiology

    (EE-tee-AH-loh-jee)

    The cause or origin of disease.

  • Etoposide

    (ee-toh-POH-side)

    The active ingredient in a drug used with other drugs to treat small cell lung cancer. It is also used with other drugs to treat testicular cancer that has not gotten better after other anticancer treatment. It is also being studied in the treatment of other types of cancer. Etoposide blocks certain enzymes needed for cell division and DNA repair, and it may kill cancer cells. It is a type of podophyllotoxin derivative and a type of topoisomerase inhibitor. Also called VP-16.

  • Evaluable disease

    (ee-VAL-yoo-uh-bul dih-ZEEZ)

    Disease that cannot be measured directly by the size of the tumor but can be evaluated by other methods specific to a particular clinical trial.

  • Evaluable patients

    (ee-VAL-yoo-uh-bul PAY-shunts)

    Patients whose response to a treatment can be measured because enough information has been collected.

  • Event-free survival

    (eh-VENT ... ser-VY-vul)

    In cancer, the length of time after primary treatment for a cancer ends that the patient remains free of certain complications or events that the treatment was intended to prevent or delay. These events may include the return of the cancer or the onset of certain symptoms, such as bone pain from cancer that has spread to the bone. In a clinical trial, measuring the event-free survival is one way to see how well a new treatment works. Also called EFS.

  • Ewing sarcoma

    YOO-ing sar-KOH-muh

    A type of cancer that forms in bone or soft tissue. Also called peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor and PPNET.

  • Excision

    (ek-SIH-zhun)

    Surgical removal of tissue.

  • Excisional biopsy

    (ek-SIH-zhuh-nul BY-op-see)

    A surgical procedure in which an entire lump or suspicious area is removed for diagnosis. The tissue is then examined under a microscope.

  • Expectorant

    Medicine that makes mucous in your respiratory tract thinner and easier to cough out.