| Burkitt, Denis | <person> 20th century British physician in Uganda, died 1993. See: Burkitt's lymphoma. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| burkitt lymphoma | A form of undifferentiated malignant lymphoma usually found in central africa, but also reported in other parts of the world. It is commonly manifested as a large osteolytic lesion in the jaw or as an abdominal mass. B-cell antigens are expressed on the immature cells that make up the tumour in virtually all cases of burkitt lymphoma. The epstein-barr virus (herpes virus 4, human) has been isolated from burkitt lymphoma cases in africa and it is implicated as the causative agent in these cases; however, most non-african cases are ebv-negative. (12 Dec 1998) |
| Burkitt's lymphoma | <oncology, tumour> A type of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma that most often occurs in young people between the ages of 12 and 30. The disease usually causes a rapidly growing tumour in the abdomen. (12 May 1997) |
| tumor | 1. <oncology> An abnormal mass of tissue that results from excessive cell division that is uncontrolled and progressive, also called a neoplasm. Tumours perform no useful body function. They may be either benign (not cancerous) or malignant. 2. Swelling, one of the cardinal signs of inflammations, morbid enlargement. Origin: L. Tumere = to swell (12 May 1997) |
| tumor marker | <investigation, oncology> A substance in the body that usually indicates the presence of cancer. These markers are usually specific to certain types of cancer and are usually found in the blood or other tissue samples. Examples are alphafetoprotein (AFP), human chorionic gonadotropin, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). They may be indicators of tumour stage and grade as well as useful for monitoring responses to treatment and predicting recurrence. Many chemical groups are represented including hormones, antigens, amino and nucleic acids, enzymes, polyamines, and specific cell membrane proteins and lipids. (18 Jul 2002) |
| tumor necrosis factor | <cytokine> Originally described as a tumour inhibiting factor in the blood of animals exposed to bacterial lipopolysaccharide or Bacille Calmette-Guerin. Preferentially kills tumour cells in vivo and in vitro, causes necrosis of certain transplanted tumours in mice and inhibits experimental metastases. Human Tumour Necrosis factor alpha is a protein of 157 amino acids and has a wide range of pro inflammatory actions. Usually considered a cytokine. Synonym: cachectin. Acronym: TNF (13 Nov 1997) |