Developing an Index of Abbreviations and Glossary of Terms in Cancer Medicine

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August 2, 2008 - 7:56 am email to a friend printer friendly view / write comments

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Dr. West

I try to describe the terms in posts and comments, but some people had suggested a glossary of cancer terms and abbreviations that are commonly used here, on slides, doctor’s notes, etc. This is my first attempt to develop something fairly comprehensive, but I’m sure this isn’t everything. Please add your suggestions for terms or topics that would be helpful to add to this.

Once we get it pretty settled, we’ll make it a permanent link from throughout the site that people can access if they encounter an abbreviation or term that they don’t know.

Common Abbreviations/Glossary of Terms in Oncology

ADLs - activities of daily living

ANC - absolute neutrophil count, the absolute number of bacterial infection fighting blood cells – low means notably higher risk for infection

BAC – bronchioloalveolar carcinoma, a unique and uncommon subtype of lung cancer

CR – complete response (after treatment), leading to no evidence of disease (NED)

CT – computerized tomography, “cat scan”, a detailed look at the body at varying levels internally, “slice by slice”

CTCs – circulating tumor cells, in blood

CT/PET – 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

CXR – chest x-ray

DCR – disease control rate, the combination of response rate and proportion of patients achieving stable disease

DNI – “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

DNR – “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.

Dx - diagnosis

EGFR – epidermal growth factor receptor, a key target that modulates growth and division of cancer cells

FISH – 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

Gy – Gray, the units of radiation dosing

HCT - hematocrit, see below

Hematocrit - the percentage of blood that is comprised of red blood cells, normally approximately 38-45%, but commonly below that in patients receiving cancer treatment

IHC – immunohistochemistry, a method for detecting levels of specific proteins on tumor cells

INR – 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

IV – intravenous

LAN – lymphadenopathy, abnormally enlarged lymph nodes

median – 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

MRI – magnetic resonance imaging, a type of scan particularly good at evaluating brain, muscle, bone, nerves

NED – no evidence of disease, a nice report to get

NSCLC – non-small cell lung cancer, main subtypes including adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and large cell carcinoma

N/V – nausea and vomiting

ORR – objective response rate

OS – overall survival

p value – 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.

PCR – polymerase chain reaction, a sensitive method for detecting gene mutations in cancer cells

PD – progressive disease

PEG – 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

PET – positron-emission tomography, a type of scan that measures metabolic activity, which tends to highlight areas of cancer

PFS – progression-free survival, the time before a patient demonstrates progression

platelets - 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

PLTs - platelets

PO – oral, by mouth

PR – partial response (generally defined as ~50% tumor shrinkage, or greater)

PRN – as needed

PS - performance status, most commonly measured from 0 (without symptoms, unrestricted) to 5 (dead)

Pt- patient

Px – prognosis

QOL – quality of life

RBCs – red blood cells, the oxygen carrying blood cells (anemia means low RBC levels)

RR – response rate

RT – Radiation therapy

Rx – treatment

SCLC – small cell lung cancer – staged as LD and ED for limited disease and extensive disease, respectively (often written as SCLC-ED, for instance)

SD – stable disease

SUV - standard uptake value, the unit of measuring metabolic activity on a PET scan

Tx – treatment

VEGF – vascular endothelial growth factor, the most important modulator of new blood vessel formation, and the target for “anti-angiogenic” agents

WBCs – white blood cells, infection fighting blood cells, of which there are a few types

XRT- external beam radiation therapy (basically, standard radiation)

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