Words You Might Encouter Concerning Prostate Cancer (8)

Words You Might Encouter Concerning Prostate Cancer (8)

ONCOLOGIST: a physician who specializes in the treatment of various
types of cancer

ONCOLOGY: the branch of medical science dealing with tumors; an
oncologist is a specialists in the study of cancerous tumors

ORCHIECTOMY: the surgical removal of the testicles

ORGAN: a group of tissues that work in concert to carry out a specific
set of functions (e.g., the heart or the lungs or the prostate)

OSTEOBLAST: cell that forms bone

OSTEOCLAST: cell that breaks down bone-cell grows in bone tissue and
apparently absorbs bone tissue, Pac-man fashion

OSTEOLYSIS: destruction of bone

OVERSTAGING: the assignment of an overly high clinical stage at
initial diagnosis because of the difficulty of assessing the available
information with accuracy (e.g., stage T3b as opposed to stage T2b)

PALLIATIVE: designed to relieve a particular problem without
necessarily solving it; for example, palliative therapy is given in
order to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life, but does not
cure the patient

PALPABLE: capable of being felt during a physical examination by an
experienced physician; in the case of prostate cancer, this normally
refers to some form of abnormality of the prostate which can be felt
during a digital rectal examination

PAP: PROSTATIC ACID PHOSPHATASE; an enzyme now measured only rarely to
decide whether prostate cancer has escaped from the prostate

PARTIN TABLES: Tables that use PSA, Gleason's Score and Clinical Stage
to predict the likelihood of organ- confinement, and capsule, seminal
vesicle & lymph node PCa involvement. Also see web page at
http://www.prostatepointers.org/prostate/earlypc1.html

PARTIN II TABLES: tables that use PSA velocity after RP to distinguish
local recurrence from distant metastases; Alan Partin et al., Urology
43:649-659 (1994)

PATHOLOGIST: a physician who specializes in the examination of tissues
and blood samples to help decide what diseases are present and
therefore how they should be treated

PC DIGEST: a summary of a patient's clinical information that focuses
on those medical issues that are important to evaluation and treatment
decisions; often placed on messages after the signature line to remind
the reader; example: Dx: 2/95, age 54, BPSA 8, G 6, CS T2a,
PP=62-38-<1-1; PAP 1.3(nl to 2.5), bone scan nl, Rx: CHB2 C+L 3/9; PSA
2/96 0.4, 4/96 0.35, non-detectable 6/95

PDQ: physicians data query; a NCI supported database available to
physicians, containing current information on standard treatments and
ongoing clinical trials

PELVIS: that part of the skeleton that joins the lower limbs of the
body together

PENILE: of the penis

PENIS: the male organ used in urination and intercourse

PERINEAL: of the perineum

PERINEUM: the area of the body between the scrotum and the rectum; a
perineal procedure uses this area as the point of entry into the body

PERIPHERAL: outside the central region

PIN: prostatic intraepithelial (or intraductal) neoplasia; a
pathologically identifiable condition believed to be a possible
precursor of prostate cancer; also known more simply as dysplasia by
many physicians

PLACEBO: a form of safe but non-active treatment frequently used as a
basis for comparison with pharmaceuticals in research studies

PLOIDY: a term used to describe the number of sets of chromosomes in a
cell; see also diploid and aneuploid

POSITIVE: the term used to describe a test result which shows the
presence of the substance or material for which the test was carried
out; for example, a positive bone scan would show signs of bone
metastases

POSTERIOR: the rear; for example, the posterior of the prostate is the
part of the prostate that faces a man's back

PROGNOSIS: the patient's potential clinical outlook based on the
status and probable course of his disease; chance of recovery

PROGRESSION: continuing growth or regrowth of the cancer

PROLACTIN: (PRL) a trophic hormone produced by the pituitary that
increases androgen receptors, increases sensitivity to androgens, &
regulates production & secretion of citrate

PROSCAR: brand name of finasteride

PROSTASCINT SCAN: a monoclonal antibody with great affinity for
prostatic tissue (in particular malignant tumors) is combined with a
radioactive material (Indium 111) and is injected intravenously and
allowed to "settle" for 3 days; the radiolabelled antibody
preferentially attaches itself to existing lesions, and when the body
is scanned these lesions are detected by the radioactive emissions;
not FDA approved yet, but has a great potential to help determine how
far a tumor has spread

PROSTATE: the gland surrounding the urethra and immediately below the
bladder in males

PROSTATECTOMY: surgical removal of part or all of the prostate gland

PROSTATE-SPECIFIC ANTIGEN: see PSA

PROSTATIC ACID PHOSPHATASE: see PAP

PROSTATITIS: infection or inflammation of the prostate gland treatable
by medication and/or manipulation; (BPH is a more permanent laying
down of fibroblasts and connective tissue caused when the prostate
tries to contain a relatively silent chronic lower-grade infection,
often requiring a TURP to relieve the symptoms)

PROSTHESIS: a man-made device used to replace a normal body part or function

PROTOCOL: a precise set of methods by which a research study is to be
carried out

PSA: PROSTATE-SPECIFIC ANTIGEN; a protein secreted by the epithelial
cells of the prostate gland including cancer cells; an elevated level
in the blood indicates an abnormal condition of the prostate gland,
either benign or malignant; it is used to detect potential problems in
the prostate gland and to follow the progress of Pca therapy (see
SCREENING); also see web page at
http://www.prostatepointers.org/prostate/psa.html

PSA DOUBLING TIME (PSADT): the time it takes the PSA to double in
value; see method of finding PSADT in my posting of 5/9/96 with
Subject: PSA Doubling Time: Table and Equation

PSA-II: prostate-specific antigen type II assay; reports the
percentage of free-PSA to total-PSA (total-PSA = free- PSA +
bound-PSA); helpful for screening purposes when PSA values are above
the normal threshold for an age group and less than 10; one study
showed that men with PSA II > 25% had no PCa; those with < 10% were
likely to have PCa; not yet FDA approved (4/96), but available; also
see web page at http://www.prostatepointers.org/prostate/psa.html

PSA RT-PCR: PSA reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction; a
blood test that detects micrometastatic cells circulating in the blood
stream; may be useful as a screening tool to help avoid unnecessary
invasive treatments (RP, RT, etc.) on patients with metastasized PCa;
not FDA approved (4/96), but available at locations where FDA approved
clinical trials of the test are being done; (see RT-PCR); also see web
page at http://www.prostatepointers.org:80/prostate/earlypc1.html

PSA VELOCITY (PSAV): the rate at which PSA values increase assuming
that the rate does not change;

PSM: prostate specific membrane; a membrane that surrounds the
protoplasm (cytoplasm) of prostate cells

PSM RT-PCR: an RT-PCR assay that tests for a PSM glycoprotein derived
from the cell membrane of the human prostatic cancer cell line LNCaP;
may give high results for hormone-refractory disease; able to detect
one prostate cancer cell in one million blood cells.
http://www.prostatepointers.org/prostate/earlypc1.html

PSMA: prostate specific membrane antigen