Medical Dictionary Definitions A-Z List
Medical Dictionary Definitions A - Z - «T»:
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Tumescent liposuction
Tumescent liposuction: The surgical suctioning of fat deposits from specific parts of the body, the most common being the abdomen (the "tummy"), buttocks
("behind"), hips, thighs and knees, chin, upper arms, back, and calves after pumping several quarts/liters of a salt water solution underneath the...
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Tummy
Tummy: 1. Babytalk for the stomach. The word tummy is derived from stomach.
2. Slang for a paunch. A big tummy raises the risk of diabetes....
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Tumor
Tumor: An abnormal mass of tissue. Tumors are a
classic sign of inflammation, and can be benign or malignant
(cancerous). There are dozens of different types of tumors. Their
names usually reflect the kind of tissue they arise in, and may also
tell you something about their shape or how they gro...
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Tumor debulking
Tumor debulking: Surgically removing as much of the tumor as possible....
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Tumor grade
Tumor grade: The degree of abnormality of cancer cells, a measure of differentiation, the extent to which cancer cells are similar in appearance and function to healthy cells of the same tissue type. The degree of differentiation often relates to the clinical behavior of the particular tumor. Based ...
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Tumor marker
Tumor marker: Tumor markers are substances that can be
detected in higher-than-normal amounts in the blood, urine, or body
tissues of some patients with certain types of cancer. A tumor marker
may be made by a tumor itself or by the body in response to the
tumor. Such a substance serves to "mark...
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Tumor marker, CEA
Tumor marker, CEA: Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a protein found in many types of cells but associated with tumors and the developing fetus.
CEA is tested in blood. The normal range is...
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Tumor marker, NSE
Tumor marker, NSE: Neuron-specific enolase (NSE) is a substance that has been detected in patients with certain tumors, namely: neuroblastoma, small cell lung cancer, medullary thyroid cancer, carcinoid tumors, endocrine tumors of the pancreas, and melanoma.
Studies of NSE as a tumor marker have co...
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Tumor necrosis factor
Tumor necrosis factor: A member of a superfamily of proteins, each with 157 amino acids, which induce necrosis (death) of tumor cells and possess a wide range of proinflammatory actions. Tumor necrosis factor is a multifunctional cytokine with effects on lipid metabolism, coagulation, insulin resis...
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Tumor registry
Tumor registry: Recorded information about
the status of patients with tumors.
Although a registry was originally the place (like
Registry House in Edinburgh) where information was collected (in registers), the word "registry" has also come to mean the collection itself.
A tumor registry is usuall...
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Tumor suppressor gene
Tumor suppressor gene: A protective gene that normally limits the growth of tumors. When a tumor suppressor gene is mutated (altered), it may fail to keep a cancer from growing.
BRCA1, an example of tumor suppressor genes, was the first breast cancer gene to be identified; mutated forms of this gen...
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Tumor, carcinoid
Tumor, carcinoid: A tumor which secretes large amounts of the hormone serotonin. Another name for carcinoid tumor is argentaffinoma.
The tumor usually arises in the gastrointestinal tract, anywhere between the stomach and the rectum (the favorite spot is in the appendix) and from there may metastas...
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Tumor, desmoid
Tumor, desmoid: See: Desmoid tumor....
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Tumor, ear
Tumor, ear: Benign (noncancerous) bumps on the
pinna of the ear (the
external
ear) or within the external ear canal. Most of these lumps
and bumps are
just
harmless sebaceous cysts. However, some of the bumps are
bony overgrowths
(known as exostoses or osteomas). If they are large and
interfere ...
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Tumor, islet cell
Tumor, islet cell: See: Islet cell cancer....
