Glossary
of Cancer Chemotherapy Terms
Adjuvant
therapy – a short course of high-dose combination drugs given after
radiation or surgery to destroy residual cancer cells.
Biologic response modifiers (BRM’s) -
biologic therapies for the treatment of cancer.
Blood brain barrier – a special characteristic
of the capillary walls of the brain that prevent potentially harmful substances
from moving from the bloodstream to the brain and cerebrospinal fluid.
Cancer chemotherapy - the use of drugs to
destroy malignant or cancer cells. The terms antineoplastic, and cytotoxic are
interchangeable with the term cancer chemotherapy.
Cell cycle - a series of steps that both
normal cells and abnormal cancer cells go through in order to grow and reproduce
to form new cells.
Cell cycle time - the amount of time required
for a cell to move from one mitosis (cell division) to another mitosis.
Cell kill theory – a theory that proposes
that a set percentage of cells are killed with each dose of chemotherapy.
Chemoprotective agents – agents designed
to protect against specific toxic effects of chemotherapy.
Combination chemotherapy – the use
of two or more cytotoxic drugs proven effective against a specific type of tumor.
Consolidation therapy – chemotherapy
continued after induction therapy has produced a remission.
Growth fraction – the percentage of
cells actively dividing at a given point in time.
Induction therapy – giving a combination
of high-dose drugs to prompt a complete response to therapy.
Maintenance therapy – using single
drugs or combinations of drugs at low doses on a long term basis.
Metastasis – the spread of cancer cells
from one part of the body to another.
Nadir – the lowest point to which blood
cells levels fall after chemotherapy.
Tumor associated antigens – substances
on the surface of the tumor cell that are different than normal cells.
Tumor burden – the number of cells
present in the tumor.
Vesicant – a cytotoxic drug that
can destroy tissues if an intravenous infiltrates.