Cancer Legal Glossary: P

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Palliative Treatment: Treatment aimed at the relief of pain and symptoms of disease but not intended to cure the disease.

Panendoscopy: Includes laryngoscopy, esophagoscopy, and possible bronchoscopy.

Pap (Papanicolaou) Smear: A test to detect cancer of the cervix.

PAP Test: Also called a PAP smear. The collection of cells from the cervix for examination under a microscope. It is used to detect changes that may be cancer or may lead to cancer, and can show noncancerous conditions, such as infection or inflammation.

Paracentesis: Removing fluid from the abdomen using local anesthesia and needle and syringe.

Partial Cystectomy: The removal of the cancer as well as some of the bladder tissue around the tumor. May also be called a segmental cystectomy.

Pathological Fracture: A break in a bone usually caused by cancer.

Pathology: The study of disease by the examination of tissues and body fluids under the microscope. A doctor who specializes in pathology is called a pathologist.

Pelvic Exenteration: A radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection is accompanied by a removal of the bladder, vagina, rectum, and part of the colon. This operation is used only in advanced stages when the cancer has spread to involve other pelvic organs and connective tissue.

Peripheral Stem Cell Transplantation: A method of replacing blood-forming cells destroyed by cancer treatment. Immature blood cells (stem cells) in the circulating blood that are similar to those in the bone marrow are harvested from the circulation and given back after treatment to help the bone marrow recover and continue producing healthy blood cells. Transplantation may be autologous (an individual's own blood cells saved earlier), allogeneic (blood cells donated by someone else), or syngeneic (blood cells donated by an identical twin).

Peripheral Stem Cells: Immature cells found circulating in the bloodstream. New blood cells develop from peripheral stem cells.

Peritoneal: Having to do with the peritoneum (the tissue that lines the abdominal wall and covers most of the organs in the abdomen.)

PET Scan: Positive Emission Tomography scan. A computerized image of the metabolic activity of body tissues used to determine the presence of disease, using a short-lined radioactive isotape.

Petechiae: Tiny areas of bleeding under the skin, usually caused by a low platelet count.

Phlebitis: A painful inflammation of the veins.

Photodynamic Therapy: Treatment with drugs that become active when exposed to light. These drugs will then kill cancer cells.

Photosensitivity: Extreme sensitivity to the sun, leaving the patient prone to sunburns. This can be a side effect of some cancer drugs and radiation.

Placebo: An inert substance often used in clinical trials for comparison.

Platelet Count: The number of platelets in a blood sample.

Platelet: Cells in the blood which are responsible for clotting.

Pneumonectomy: An operation to remove an entire lung.

Polyp: A growth of tissue protruding into a body cavity, such as a nasal or rectal polyp. Polyps may be benign or malignant.

Polypectomy: Surgery to remove a polyp.

Port-Implanted: A catheter connected to a quarter-sized disc that is surgically placed just below the skin in the chest or abdomen. The tube is inserted into a large vein or artery directly into the bloodstream. Fluids, drugs, or blood products can be infused, and blood can be drawn through a needle that is stuck into the disc.

Port-Peritoneal: A catheter connected to a quarter-sized disc that is surgically placed in the abdomen. The catheter is inserted to deliver chemotherapy to the peritoneum (abdominal cavity).

PR: Progesterone receptor negative. Breast cancer cells that do not have a protein (receptor molecule) to which progesterone will attach. Breast cancer cells that are PR- do not need the hormone progesterone to grow and usually do not respond to hormonal therapy.

PR+: Progesterone receptor positive. Breast cancer cells that have a protein (receptor molecule) to which progesterone will attach. Breast cancer cells that are PR+ need the hormone progesterone to grow and will usually respond to hormonal therapy.

Pre-Cancerous Lesion: An area of abnormal tissue change that may (or is likely to) become cancer.

Primary Tumor: The original cancer site. For example, breast cancer that has spread to the bone is still called breast cancer.

Progesterone: One of the female hormones produced by the ovaries.

Progesterone-Receptor Assay: A test that determines if breast cancer is stimulated by the hormone progesterone.

Prognosis: A determination of the possible outcome of a disease and the expected life expectancy.

Prophylactic: Used to prevent disease and preserve health.

Prostascint: This scan may be used to determine if there are microscopic prostate cancer cells in the lymph node system.

Prostate: A gland in the male reproductive system just below the bladder. It surrounds part of the urethra, the canal that empties the bladder, and produces a fluid that forms part of semen.

Prostatic Cancer: The term given to cancers that begin in the prostate.

Prosthesis: Artificial replacement of a missing body part.

Protocol: A treatment plan.

PSA Blood Test: Measures the levels of a certain protein (antigen) produced by prostate cells. An increase in PSA may indicate a cancer in the prostate although high test results can be a result of other conditions and can be found in non-cancerous older men.

PSA: A marker used to determine prostate disease; it may be benign or malignant.

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