Radiation Therapy
Radiation Therapy: using high-energy radiation from x-rays, gamma rays, neutrons and other sources to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors.
Randomization
Randomization: random assignment of patients to different types of treatment specified in a clinical trial.
Red Blood Cell (RBC)
Red Blood Cell (RBC): a type of blood cell containing hemoglobin that transports oxygen throughout the body.
Reduced Intensity
Reduced Intensity: also known as nonmyeloablative or 'mini' transplants. Lower doses of chemotherapy and possibly radiation are used as the conditioning regimen, followed by the infusion of donor stem cells.
Reed-Sternberg Cells
Reed-Sternberg Cells: a type of malignant B lymphocyte and distinguish Hodgkin lymphoma from other types of lymphoma (named after two doctors who discovered them).
Relapse
Relapse: recurrence of disease.
Related Donor
Related Donor: A stem cell donor that is a family member.
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV): a common virus that causes a cold in healthy adults. However, it can lead to serious pneumonia in patients with a weakened immune system.
Restaging
Restaging: a system of re-evaluating your disease characteristics and spread. Also, assessing your baseline organ functionality to determine your body's ability to tolerate the rigors of high-dose chemotherapy treatments associated with a transplant. Restaging may involve x - rays, scans, blood tests, biopsies, pulmonary function tests, heart scans, EKG, and urine tests.
SAA
SAA: Severe Aplastic Anemia.
Secondary Amyloidosis
Secondary Amyloidosis: caused by a chronic infection or inflammatory disease (such as rheumatoid arthritis, familial Mediterranean fever, osteomyelitis, or granulomatous ileitis). The amyloid deposits that are produced by this type of amyloidosis are made up of a protein called the AA protein.
Secondary Testicular Tumors
Secondary Testicular Tumors: tumors that start in another organ and then spread to the testicle. Among men over 50, secondary testicular tumors are more common that tumors that begin in the testicle. The prognosis depends on the type and stage of the original cancer.
Solid Tumor
Solid Tumor: a cancer that originates in an organ or tissue other than the bone marrow or lymph system (e.g., Breast or Colon cancer).
Staging
Staging: a system of quantifying disease characteristics and spread. Staging may involve x - rays, scans, blood tests, and biopsies.
Staging Laparotomy
Staging Laparotomy: a surgical procedure to inspect and biopsy lymph nodes in the abdomen and liver and to remove the spleen to determine the stage of cancer.
Stem Cell
Stem Cell: a cell from which all other blood cells originate; also called a pluripotent stem cell.
Stem Cell Transplant
Stem Cell Transplant: also known as nonmyeloablative or "mini" transplants. Lower doses of chemotherapy and possibly radiation are used as the conditioning regimen, followed by the infusion of donor stem cells. In this type of transplant, the purpose is not to replace the patients destroyed marrow cells, as the patient's marrow function would return to normal if donor cells were not administered. The conditioning regimen is given to suppress the patient's marrow function for a short time period allowing the donor cells to engraft . The donor cells are given in order to create a graft-versus-malignancy effect. The term "mini" transplant, however, is somewhat misleading. Although patients receive less toxic dosages of chemotherapy and radiation, and may feel well early in the post transplant process, they are still at risk to develop serious and potentially life-threatening side effects. These side effects often begin 30-60 days post-transplant when the new immune system is gaining strength.
Stem Cell Transplantation
Stem Cell Transplantation: a method of replacing immature blood-forming cells that were destroyed by cancer treatment. The stem cells are given to the person after treatment to help the bone marrow recover and continue producing healthy blood cells.
Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy
Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy: A radiation therapy technique that uses special equipment to position the patient and precisely deliver a large radiation dose to a tumor and not to normal tissue.
Stomatitis
Stomatitis: inflammation and ulceration of the lining of the mouth. Stomatitis is one type of mucositis.
Stromal Tumors
Stromal Tumors: tumors that begin in the cells that make hormones and in the supportive tissues (stroma) of the testicles. These tumors are often benign and do not spread beyond the testicle; however, when stromal cell tumors spread to other parts of the body, they have a poor prognosis because they do not respond well to treatments.
Syngeneic Transplant
Syngeneic Transplant: a stem cell transplant from one HLA identical twin to the other.