Go back to the index of this complete glossary to find the definition of all medical terms for cancers, treatments and health.
Cancer Glossary - T
- Teletherapy : Treatment in which radiation source is at a distance from the
body. Linear accelerators and cobalt machines are used in teletherapy.
- Therapeutic : Pertaining to treatment.
- Thermography : Test to measure and display heat patterns
of tissues near the surface of the skin. Abnormal tissue generally is warmer
than healthy tissue.
- Thoracic : Concerning the chest.
- Thoracoepigastric vein : Vein that starts under the arm and passes along the
side of the breast and then down into the abdomen.
- Thrombocytopenia : Decreased number of platelets circulating in the blood.
The decrease can be a side effect of chemotherapy.
- Thrombophlebitis : Inflammation of a vein that occurs
when a blood clot forms.
- Titration (in chemotherapy) : Using the largest amount of drug possible while
keeping side effects from becoming intolerable.
- Trauma : Wound or injury.
- Treatment port : The place on the body at which the radiation beam is aimed.
- Transurethral resection : Surgery performed
with a special instrument inserted through the urethra. Also called TUR.
- Transvaginal ultrasound : Sound waves sent out by a probe inserted in the vagina.
The waves bounce off the ovaries, and a computer uses the echoes to create a
picture called a sonogram. Also called TVS.
- Tumor An abnormal mass of tissue. Tumors are either :
- benign : non cancerous
- malignant : cancerous
- Tumor debulking : Surgically removing as much of the tumor as possible.
- Tumor marker : A substance detectable in the blood or urine that suggests the presence of cancer.