| biological response modifiers | Substances that stimulate the body's response to infection and disease. The body naturally produces small amounts of these substances. Scientists can produce some of them in the laboratory in large amounts and use them in cancer treatment. Also called BRMs. (12 Dec 1998) |
|---|---|
| effect modifiers | <epidemiology> Factors that modify the effect of the putative causal factor(s) under study. (12 Dec 1998) |
| biological response modifier | <pharmacology, oncology> A substance used in adjuvant therapy that takes advantage of the bodys own natural defense mechanisms to inhibit the growth of a tumour. (16 Dec 1997) |
| immunologic and biological factors | A collective grouping for biologically active substances that play a role in the functioning of the immune system and those that show biological or physiological activity. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cancer, colon: screening and surveillance | Colon cancer is both preventable and curable. It is preventable by removing precancerous colon polyps. It is curable if early cancer is surgically removed before cancer spread to other parts of the body. Therefore, if screening and surveillance programs were practiced universally, there would be a major reduction in the incidence and mortality of colon cancer. (12 Dec 1998) |
| colon cancer and polyps | Benign tumours of the large intestine are called polyps. Malignant tumours of the large intestine are called cancers. Benign polyps do not invade nearby tissue or spread to other parts of the body. Benign polyps can be easily removed during colonoscopy, and are not life threatening. If benign polyps are not removed from the large intestine, they can become malignant (cancerous) over time. most of the cancers of the large intestine are believed to have developed from polyps. (12 Dec 1998) |
| adjuvant chemotherapy | <oncology, pharmacology> Chemotherapy treatment that is given as an add-on to their primary cancer treatment, as in surgery or radiation therapy. (16 Dec 1997) |
| remission induction chemotherapy | The initial chemotherapy a patient receives to bring about a remission. (12 Dec 1998) |
| chemotherapy | <pharmacology, oncology> The treatment of disease by means of chemicals that have a specific toxic effect upon the disease producing microorganisms (antibiotics) or that selectively destroy cancerous tissue (anticancer therapy). (12 May 1997) |
| chemotherapy, adjuvant | Drug therapy given to augment or stimulate some other form of treatment such as surgery or radiation therapy. Adjuvant chemotherapy is commonly used in the therapy of cancer and can be administered before or after the primary treatment. (12 Dec 1998) |
| chemotherapy drug sensitivity test | <investigation> A test to assess a cancerous tissue's response and vulnerability to chemotherapy drugs. This test can help predict a patients response to treatment and suggest which drugs may be useful. (16 Dec 1997) |
| combination chemotherapy | <oncology> Treatment consisting of the use of two or more chemicals to achieve maximum kill of tumour cells. (09 Jan 1998) |
| consolidation chemotherapy | Repetitive cycles of treatment during the immediate post-remission period, used especially for leukaemia. Synonym: intensification chemotherapy. (05 Mar 2000) |
| salvage chemotherapy | Use of chemotherapy in a patient with recurrence of a malignancy following initial treatment, in hope of a cure or prolongation of life. Synonym: salvage therapy. (05 Mar 2000) |
| second line chemotherapy | <oncology> Chemotherapy given for a tumour which has already failed to respond to a first chemotherapy regimen (called first line). (16 Dec 1997) |