Go back to the index of this complete glossary to find the definition of all medical terms for cancers, treatments and health.
Cancer Glossary - L
- Laparoscopy : A surgical procedure in which a lighted instrument
shaped like a thin tube is inserted through a small incision in the abdomen.
- Laparotomy : An operation in which the surgeon opens the
abdomen.
- Laser : A powerful beam of light that can develop intense heat when focused
at close range, sometimes used in surgery.
- Leukemia : A type of cancer that originates in the blood-forming tissues of
the bone marrow, lymph nodes and spleen.
- Lidocaine : Drug most commonly used for local anesthesia, very
practical to ease the pain of mouth ulcers I find.
- Linear accelerator : A machine that creates high-energy radiation to treat
cancers, using electricity to form a stream of fast-moving subatomic particles.
Also called megavoltage (MeV) linear accelerator or a linac.
- Local treatment of cancer Treatment of the tumor only.
- Lumpectomy : Surgery to remove a lump and a small margin of
normal tissue surrounding it.
- Lymph (limf) : The almost colorless fluid that bathes body cells and contains
cells that help fight infection.
- Lymph nodes : Small bean-shaped structures scattered throughout the body along
the channels of the lymphatic system; also called lymph glands. Nodes filter
bacteria or cancer cells that may travel through the lymphatic system.
- Lymphatic system : The lymph nodes, spleen, and thymus — which
produce and store infection-fighting cells — and the network of channels that
carry lymph fluid.
- Lymphedema : Swelling of the arm that can follow surgery to
the lymph nodes under the arm. Also called Milk Arm.
- Lymphangiography : X-ray study of lymph nodes and lymph
vessels made visible by the injection of a special dye.
- Lymphocytes : White blood cells critical to the immune system’s defense against
disease organisms in the body, including cancer cells.
- Lymphoma : A cancer that originates in the body’s lymphatic tissues, primarily the lymph nodes or the lymph tissue of such organs as the stomach, small intestine or bone.