Terms Used in Treating Mesothelioma
Sources consulted include Medline Plus, a service of the National Institutes of Health, and MARF, the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation.
| Adjunctive drugs | A drug used to increase the effectiveness of another drug |
|---|---|
| Alveoli (plural; singular is alveolus) | Hollow grape-like clusters of cells in the lungs where air is passed through a cell membrane to the bloodstream, re-oxygenating the blood |
| Angiogenesis | The formation and growth of blood vessels. Many tumors cause rapid and extensive growth of blood vessels to provide nourishment to the tumor. New drugs which interrupt the tumor-caused angiogenesis are a promising approach to reducing tumor growth |
| Ascites | Abnormal build-up of fluid in the abdomen that may cause swelling. In late-stage cancer, tumor cells may be found in the fluid in the abdomen. Ascites is a common condition in peritoneal mesothelioma. It can also occur in recurrent mesothelioma after surgery for the disease in the chest. |
| Biopsy | The removal of cells or tissues for examination under a microscope. When only a sample of tissue is removed, the procedure is called an incisional biopsy or core biopsy. When an entire lump or suspicious area is removed, the procedure is called an excisional biopsy. When a sample of tissue or fluid is removed with a needle, the procedure is called a needle biopsy or fine-needle aspiration. Pleural biopsies are used to make the diagnosis of mesothelioma. |
| Bronchi (plural; singular is bronchus) | The two main branches of the trachea, or windpipe. One bronchus leads to the right lung and other to the left. |
| Bronchioles | The bronchi divide into many smaller tubes called bronchioles, which are very narrow, with thin walls. They lead to the alveoli. |
| Bronchopleural fistula | A complication after extrapleural pneumonectomy in which there is a leakage of air from the closed bronchial tube. |
| Chemotherapeutic agents | Chemotherapy is the use of chemical agents in the treatment or control of cancer. Chemotherapeutic agents are the drugs or compounds used. |
| Clinical trial | A type of research study that uses volunteers to test new methods of screening, prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of a disease. The trial may be carried out in a clinic or other medical facility. Also called a clinical study. |
| Diagnostic inclusion | This refers to a physician's process in arriving the correct diagnosis for a patient's symptoms. Mesothelioma is a relatively rare disease, and it shares its symptoms with many other diseases. A physician must include mesothelioma in the list of possible conditions in order to pursue the necessary diagnostic steps. |
| Empyema, | The presence of pus in a bodily cavity. Pus in the pleural cavity is also called pyothorax. |
| Endoscope | An illuminated flexible or rigid tubular instrument, often usually fiber-optic, for examining an internal organ for diagnostic or treatment purposes. An endoscope frequently has one or more channels by which instruments such a scissors or forceps can be passed into the body. |
| Epithelium | Refers to the cells that line the internal and external surfaces of the body and the term used to describe the appearance of the cells under the microscope for the most common type of mesothelioma. |
| Extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP), | Surgery to remove a diseased lung, part of the pericardium (membrane covering the heart), part of the diaphragm (muscle between the lungs and the abdomen), and part of the parietal pleura (membrane lining the chest). This type of surgery is used most often to treat malignant mesothelioma. |
| Genomics | A branch of biotechnology concerned with applying the techniques of genetics and molecular biology to the genetic mapping and DNA sequencing of sets of genes using high-speed methods. |
| Heated chemo perfusion | The delivery of heated chemotherapy chemicals to the chest and/or abdomen in the operating room after the majority of the tumor is removed. A procedure in which a warmed solution containing anticancer drugs is used to bathe, or is passed through the blood vessels of the tissue or organ containing the tumor. |
| Laparoscopy | The use of a thin, lighted tube, an endoscope, to examine the inside of the abdomen. |
| Malignant seeding | The growth of a tumor at new site, other than its original location, caused by contamination with malignant cells after a biopsy, or from cells in a malignant effusion. |
| Mesothelium | Thin, glistening tissue that forms the smooth lining of the chest, lungs, heart, and abdomen. |
| Mesothelial cells | Flat cells that originated with the mesodermal or middle layer of embryonic tissues and which form the top layer of the serosal membranes. These membranes line the lung cavity and the abdominal cavity. |
| Metastasis | The spread of a cancer from one part of the body to another. A tumor formed by cells that have spread is called a "metastatic tumor" or a "metastasis." The metastatic tumor contains cells that are like those in the original (primary) tumor. The plural form of metastasis is metastases (meh-TAS-ta-seez). |
| Metastatic recurrence: | Recurrence of a cancer at a metastatic site, away from the original site. |
| Monoclonal antibodies drugs | Antibodies that are identical because they were produced by one type of immune cell and are all clones of a single parent cell. Given (almost) any substance, it is possible to create monoclonal antibodies that specifically bind to that substance; they can then serve to detect or purify that substance. This has become an important tool in biochemistry, molecular biology and medicine. When used as medications, the generic name ends in –mab. |
| Multi-agent chemotherapy / | Treatment with two or more anticancer drugs. Different drugs have different mechanisms for killing cancer cells, and a combination of two or mechanisms is usually more effective than a single drug |
| Multimodality treatments | The use of more than one type of treatment; for example, using both chemotherapy and radiation |
| Non-invasive imaging techniques | Techniques for visualizing internal organs and structures that do not require the injection of dyes. X-rays, ultrasound, and CAT are examples of non-invasive techniques |
| Oncologist | A physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer |
| Palliative care | Care and treatment given to improve the quality of life of patients who have a serious or life-threatening disease. Palliative does not anticipate a cure; its goal is to prevent or treat as early as possible the symptoms of the disease, side effects caused by treatment of the disease, and psychological, social, and spiritual problems related to the disease or its treatment. Also called supportive care, comfort care, and symptom management. |
| Parietal peritoneum | The part of the peritoneum that lines the abdominal wall |
| Pathology | The study of the essential nature of diseases and especially of the structural and functional changes produced by them; also the anatomic and physiological deviations from the normal that characterize a particular disease |
| Pericardium | The thin tissue sac that covers the heart. |
| Peritoneal membranes | The thin, glistening membranes that line the abdominal cavity, and cover each organ within the cavity |
| Peritoneal mesothelioma | Mesothelioma that arises in the peritoneal membranes of the abdominal cavity. About 20% of all mesotheliomas are peritoneal mesotheliomas |
| Peritoneum | The tissue that lines the abdominal wall and covers most of the organs in the abdomen which is composed of mesothelial cells and is the target organ for abdominal mesothelioma. |
| Photodynamic therapy | |
| Pleural cavity | The space enclosed by the pleura, which is a thin layer of tissue that covers the lungs and lines the interior wall of the chest cavity. |
| Pleural linings | The tissue that lines the chest wall, and covers the lungs. |
| Pleural effusion | An abnormal collection of fluid between the thin layers of tissue (pleura) lining the lung and the wall of the chest cavity. |
| Pleural mesothelioma | Mesothelioma that arises in the linings of the chest cavity. The commonest form of mesothelioma; about 80% of all mesotheliomas are pleural |
| Pleurectomy / decortication (P/D) | Treatment with drugs that become active when exposed to light. These drugs kill cancer cells. |
| Pneumonitis | An inflammatory infection that occurs in the lung. |
| Prognosis | The prospect of survival and recovery from a disease based on the usual course of that disease |
| Pulmonary embolism | The migration of a blood clot, usually from the legs, to the heart, resulting in the blockage of arteries to the lung. The blockage causes acute shortness of breath, and can be fatal. Pulmonary embolisms are a possible complication of surgery for mesothelioma |
| Pulmonary pathologist | A pathologist is a physician specifically trained in identifying diseases from microscopic study of cells and tissue samples. A pulmonary pathologist specializes in the study and diagnosis of lung disease |
| Staging | Staging is the term for the process of determining how far advanced a cancer is, and how far it has spread from the original site. The goal of staging a mesothelioma is to determine what kinds of treatment will be most helpful, and what a person's life expectancy may be. |
| Systemic administration | Administering a medication to the entire body, usually through the circulatory system. |
| Trachea | The windpipe. The trachea is the main tube by which air passes to and from the lungs. Below the neck it divides in two to form the bronchi |
| Thoracentesis | Removal of fluid from the pleural cavity through a needle inserted between the ribs. |
| Thorascopy | Removal of fluid from the pleural cavity through a needle inserted between the ribs. |
| Visceral peritoneum | The part of the peritoneum that covers the abdominal organs |