Go back to the index of this complete glossary to find the definition of all medical terms for cancers, treatments and health.
Cancer Glossary - P
- PTC : A test sometimes used to help diagnose cancer of the pancreas. A thin
needle is put into the liver. Dye is injected into the bile ducts so blockages
can be seen on x-rays.
- Palliative therapy : A treatment that may relieve symptoms without
curing the disease. In other words: where curing is no longer an option
for the medical world you know.
- Palpation : A simple technique in which a doctor presses on
the surface of the body to feel the organs or tissues underneath.
- Pancreas : A gland located in the abdomen. It makes pancreatic juices and produces
several hormones including insulin.
- Pancreatectomy : Surgery to remove the pancreas. In
a total pancreatectomy, the duodenum, common bile duct, gallbladder, spleen,
and nearby lymph nodes are also removed.
- Papillary tumor : A tumor shaped like a small mushroom with its
stem attached to the inner lining of the bladder.
- Pap test : Microscopic examination of cells collected from the cervix.
- Pathologist : Doctor who identifies diseases by studying cells
and tissues under a microscope.
- Peripheral stem cell support : A method for replacing bone marrow destroyed
by cancer treatment. Certain cells in the blood that are similar to those in
bone marrow are removed from the patient’s blood before treatment. The cells
are given back after treatment to help the bone marrow recover.
- Permanent section : Thin slices of biopsy tissue that are mounted on slides
and looked at under a microscope. A permanent section takes several days to
prepare. It tells doctors if the tissue is cancer, the type of cancer it is,
and other information that helps to plan treatment.
- Petechiae : Small hemorrhages of the tiny blood vessels found just below the
skin surface. They often result from a low platelet count and always disappear
when the platelet count rises again.
- Pineal region tumors : Types of brain tumors.
- Pineoblastoma : A type of brain tumor.
- Phlebitis : Irritation of a vein.
- Pituitary gland : The main endocrine gland. It produces
hormones that control other glands and many body functions.
- Platelets : Blood cells which seal off injuries and prevent excessive bleeding
without clotting. Your platelets count decreases when you have dengue fever
caused by an aedes
mosquito.
- Polyp : A mass of tissue that develops on the inside wall of a hollow
organ such as the colon.
- Primitive neuroectodermal tumors : A type of brain tumor.
- Prognosis : Expected or probable outcome.
- Prostate gland : A gland in the male reproductive system just
below the bladder. It surrounds part of the urethra, the canal that empties
the bladder.
- Prosthesis : An artificial replacement for a missing body part.
- Proto-oncogene : Normal gene controlling cell growth.