Naturopathic Medicine/CAM
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activities of daily living
absolute neutrophil count, the absolute number of bacterial infection fighting blood cells low means notably higher risk for infection
incomplete expansion of a portion of the lung or the whole lung
bronchioloalveolar carcinoma, a unique and uncommon subtype of lung cancer
complete response (after treatment), leading to no evidence of disease (NED)
computerized tomography, "cat scan", a detailed look at the body at varying levels internally, "slice by slice"
a combined scan that does a simultaneous CT, which measures the shape and size of body structures, with PET, which measures metabolic activity. The images can then
circulating tumor cells, in blood
circulating tumor cells
chest x-ray
disease control rate, the combination of response rate and proportion of patients achieving stable disease
"do not intubate", an order to not place an endotracheal ("breathing") tube down the trachea (windpipe) in order to be placed on a mechanical ventilation machine
"do not resuscitate", an order to not perform chest compressions, defibrillation, etc., in the event that a person is unresponsive and has no pulse, etc.
diagnosis
epidermal growth factor receptor, a key target that modulates growth and division of cancer cells
fluorescence in situ hybridization, a method for detecting the number of copies of a gene in tumor cells, "positive" being higher than expected for a normal cell
Gray, the units of radiation dosing
the percentage of blood that is comprised of red blood cells, normally approximately 38-45%, but commonly below that in patients receiving cancer treatment
the percentage of blood that is comprised of red blood cells, normally approximately 38-45%, but commonly below that in patients receiving cancer treatment
immunohistochemistry, a method for detecting levels of specific proteins on tumor cells
international normalized ratio, a measurement of the degree of blood thinning, compared to an international standard, in which an INR of 2 corresponds to blood requiring twice as long as normal blood to develop a clot
intravenous
lymphadenopathy, abnormally enlarged lymph nodesmedian the number within a population for which half of the values are above and half are below it; this reflects the general trend of how a population does but discounts the "pull" of the extremes on either side
magnetic resonance imaging, a type of scan particularly good at evaluating brain, muscle, bone, nerves
nausea and vomiting
no evidence of disease, a nice report to get
non-small cell lung cancer, main subtypes including adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and large cell carcinoma
objective response rate
overall survival
the probability that an observed occurrence would occur by chance alone; convention is that something is considered "statistically significant" if the "p-value" is less than 0.05, translating to a less than 5% chance of the event occurring by chance.
polymerase chain reaction, a sensitive method for detecting gene mutations in cancer cells
progressive disease
percutaneous endoscopic gastrostromy tube, or G-tube tube placed endoscopically that is anchored in the stomach and passes out through the abdominal wall, through which "tube feedings" of nutrition and fluids, as well as medicines, can be administered
positron-emission tomography, a type of scan that measures metabolic activity, which tends to highlight areas of cancer
progression-free survival, the time before a patient demonstrates progression
blood cells that contribute to the clotting process, normally in the 150,000 450,000 range, although commonly below that in patients receiving cancer treatment
platelets
oral, by mouth
partial response (generally defined as ~50% tumor shrinkage, or greater)
as needed
performance status, commonly measured on a scale from 0 (asymptomatic, unrestricted) to 5 (dead)
patient
prognosis
quality of life
red blood cells, the oxygen carrying blood cells (anemia means low RBC levels)
response rate
Radiation therapy
treatment
small cell lung cancer staged as LD and ED for limited disease and extensive disease, respectively (often written as SCLC-ED, for instance)
stable disease
standard uptake value, the unit of measuring metabolic activity on a PET scan
treatment
vascular endothelial growth factor, the most important modulator of new blood vessel formation, and the target for "anti-angiogenic" agents
white blood cells, infection fighting blood cells, of which there are a few types
external beam radiation therapy (basically, standard radiation)
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