Medical Oncology Glossary

Tumor response category indicating significant reduction in tumor burden but not complete disappearance.

Complete absence of invasive tumor cells in surgical specimens after preoperative treatment, indicating excellent treatm...

Programmed death-ligand 1; a protein expressed on tumor cells that suppresses immune responses and serves as a predictiv...

Standardized assessment of a patient's functional ability and daily activity level.

Combined positron emission tomography and computed tomography imaging used for cancer staging and response assessment.

Abnormal accumulation of fluid in the pleural space, often malignant in oncology patients.

Lung inflammation adverse event commonly associated with cancer immunotherapy.

Time from treatment start until disease progression or death from any cause.

Tumor response category indicating cancer growth or spread despite treatment.

Departure from approved clinical trial procedures that may affect safety or data integrity.

Apparent tumor progression on imaging that actually represents inflammation or treatment effect rather than true disease...

Degree to which cells or tissues are susceptible to damage from ionizing radiation exposure.

Standardized guidelines for evaluating tumor response to treatment in clinical trials.

Cancer that does not respond to treatment or becomes resistant to therapy.

Treatment given when cancer returns or fails to respond to initial therapy.

Anatomical locations where systemic therapies have limited penetration, potentially harboring residual cancer cells.

A type of cancer that develops in connective tissues such as bone, muscle, fat, or blood vessels.

Tumor response category indicating neither significant shrinkage nor growth of cancer lesions.

Process of determining the extent and spread of cancer in the body.

The ratio between a drug's effective dose and its toxic dose, indicating the safety margin of cancer treatments.

Abnormally low platelet count that increases bleeding risk during cancer treatment.

Surgical removal of as much tumor tissue as possible when complete resection cannot be achieved.

The existence of distinct subpopulations of cancer cells within the same tumor, affecting treatment response and disease...

Potentially fatal metabolic complication from rapid breakdown of cancer cells during treatment.