Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes. The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, drenching sweats, unintended weight loss, itching, and constantly feeling tired. The enlarged lymph nodes are usually painless. The sweats are most common at night.
Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone pain, anemia, renal insuficiency, and infections may occur. Complications may include hypercalcemia and amyloidosis.
Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood, in order to replicate inside a patient and produce additional normal blood cells. HSCT may be autologous, syngeneic, or allogeneic.
This is a list of terms related to oncology. The original source for this list was the US National Cancer Institute's public domain Dictionary of Cancer Terms.
Carboplatin, sold under the brand name Paraplatin among others, is a chemotherapy medication used to treat a number of forms of cancer. This includes ovarian cancer, lung cancer, head and neck cancer, brain cancer, and neuroblastoma. It is used by injection into a vein.
Cyclophosphamide (CP), also known as cytophosphane among other names, is a medication used as chemotherapy and to suppress the immune system. As chemotherapy it is used to treat lymphoma, multiple myeloma, leukemia, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, small cell lung cancer, neuroblastoma, and sarcoma. As an immune suppressor it is used in nephrotic syndrome, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, and following organ transplant, among other conditions. It is taken by mouth or injection into a vein.
The era of cancer chemotherapy began in the 1940s with the first use of nitrogen mustards and folic acid antagonist drugs. The targeted therapy revolution has arrived, but many of the principles and limitations of chemotherapy discovered by the early researchers still apply.
Bortezomib, sold under the brand name Velcade among others, is an anti-cancer medication used to treat multiple myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma. This includes multiple myeloma in those who have and have not previously received treatment. It is generally used together with other medications. It is given by injection.
Melphalan, sold under the brand name Alkeran among others, is a chemotherapy medication used to treat multiple myeloma; malignant lymphoma; lymphoblastic and myeloblastic leukemia; childhood neuroblastoma; ovarian cancer; mammary adenocarcinoma; and uveal melanoma. It is taken by mouth or by injection into a vein.
Adjuvant therapy, also known as adjunct therapy, adjuvant care, or augmentation therapy, is a therapy that is given in addition to the primary or initial therapy to maximize its effectiveness. The surgeries and complex treatment regimens used in cancer therapy have led the term to be used mainly to describe adjuvant cancer treatments. An example of such adjuvant therapy is the additional treatment usually given after surgery where all detectable disease has been removed, but where there remains a statistical risk of relapse due to the presence of undetected disease. If known disease is left behind following surgery, then further treatment is not technically adjuvant.
Palifermin is a truncated human recombinant keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) produced in Escherichia coli. KGF stimulates the growth of cells that line the surface of the mouth and intestinal tract.
Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, comprising about 6% of cases. It is named for the mantle zone of the lymph nodes where it develops. The term 'mantle cell lymphoma' was first adopted by Raffeld and Jaffe in 1991.
Plasma cell leukemia (PCL) is a plasma cell dyscrasia, i.e. a disease involving the malignant degeneration of a subtype of white blood cells called plasma cells. It is the terminal stage and most aggressive form of these dyscrasias, constituting 2% to 4% of all cases of plasma cell malignancies. PCL may present as primary plasma cell leukemia, i.e. in patients without prior history of a plasma cell dyscrasia or as secondary plasma cell dyscrasia, i.e. in patients previously diagnosed with a history of its predecessor dyscrasia, multiple myeloma. The two forms of PCL appear to be at least partially distinct from each other. In all cases, however, PCL is an extremely serious, life-threatening, and therapeutically challenging disease.
Caphosol is a mouth rinse designed to moisten, lubricate and clean the oral cavity including the mucosa of the mouth, tongue and oropharynx which has been shown to prevent and treat oral mucositis in patients receiving radiation therapy or chemotherapy for the treatment of cancer.
Subcutaneous T-cell lymphoma is a cutaneous condition that most commonly presents in young adults, and is characterized by subcutaneous nodules. Common symptoms include fever, fatigue, and pancytopenia.
Peripheral T-cell lymphoma not otherwise specified (PTCL-NOS), is a subtype of peripheral T-cell lymphoma. Peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) is defined as a diverse group of aggressive lymphomas that develop from mature-stage white blood cells called T-cells and natural killer cells. PTCL is a type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). PTCL specifically affects T-cells rather than B-cells, and results when T-cells develop and grow abnormally.
High-dose chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant (HDC/BMT), also high-dose chemotherapy with autologous bone marrow transplant, was an ineffective treatment regimen for metastatic breast cancer, and later high-risk breast cancer, that was considered promising during the 1980s and 1990s. With an overall idea that more is better, this process involved taking cells from the person's bone marrow to store in a lab, then to give such high doses of chemotherapy drugs that the remaining bone marrow was destroyed, and then to inject the cells taken earlier back into the body as replacement. It was ultimately determined to be no more effective than normal treatment, and to have significantly higher side effects, including treatment-related death.
Sequential high-dose chemotherapy is a chemotherapy regimen consisting of several sequential monochemotherapies with only one chemotherapeutic agent per course. The idea behind this approach is that when using single-agent chemotherapy, the doctor can easily escalate the dose of the drug to the maximum tolerable dose by the patient, avoiding additive hematological toxicity from chemotherapeutic combinations, and thus improving efficacy. It is mostly used as consolidation therapy for relapsed or refractory lymphomas and relapsed or refractory Hodgkin disease, after DHAP induction. There is also an ongoing trial of this approach in multiple myeloma.
Selinexor sold under the brand name Xpovio among others, is a selective inhibitor of nuclear export used as an anti-cancer medication. It works by blocking the action of exportin 1 and thus blocking the transport of several proteins involved in cancer-cell growth from the cell nucleus to the cytoplasm, which ultimately arrests the cell cycle and leads to apoptosis. It is the first drug with this mechanism of action.
High-dose chemotherapy (HDC) is referring to chemotherapy medicines which are given at larger dosages than that are usually used in normal chemotherapy regimens. This therapeutic strategy is used to treat some cancers, especially those that are aggressive or have a high chance of coming back. With increased doses of chemotherapy chemicals administered to the body, HDC seeks to optimize the death of cancer cells.
