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Glossary

Prostatectomy
An operation to remove part or all of the prostate. Radical (or total) prostatectomy is the removal of the entire prostate and some of the tissue around it. - NCIthesaurus
TURP
Trans Urethral Resection of the Prostate : a surgical procedure to remove tissue obstructing the urethra; the technique involves the insertion of an instrument called a resectoscope into the penile urethra, and is intended to relieve obstruction of urine flow due to enlargement of the prostate - www.prostate-cancer.org
Radiotherapy
Treatment of a disease by means of exposure of the target or the whole body to radiation. Radiation therapy is often used as part of curative therapy and occasionally as a component of palliative treatment for cancer. Other uses include total body irradiation prior to transplantation. - NCIthesaurus
Active Surveillance
The most conservative option for patient under the control of medical professional. The concept refers to the situation when patient's condition is closely monitored under assigned 'precaution' level, but treatment is withheld until signs or symptoms of the disease appear or change. - NCIthesaurus
Hormone Therapy
Cancer specialists use hormone therapy to stop testosterone from reaching the prostate cancer cells. There are three main types of hormone therapy using surgery, injections or tablets. - www.prostate-cancer.org.uk
Non-cases
The controls in a trial, in this case those without prostate canacer.
Recurrence
the reappearance of disease; this can be manifested clinically as findings on the physical examination or as a laboratory recurrence only (e.g. rise in PSA). - www.prostate-cancer.org
PSA
Prostate Specific Antigen: a protein secreted by the epithelial cells of the prostate gland including cancer cells; an elevated level in the blood indicates an abnormal condition of the prostate gland, either benign or malignant; it is used to detect potential problems in the prostate gland and to follow the progress of therapy. - www.prostate-cancer.org
Stage
One criteria of the TNM (Tumour-Nodes-Metastases) staging system, a way of recording how far the cancer may have spread. T1: Clinically inapparent tumor not palpable or visible by imaging. T2: Tumor palpable but confined within the prostate. T3: Tumor extends through the prostatic capsule. T4: Tumor is fixed or invades adjacent structures other than the seminal vesicles. - www.prostate-cancer.org
Node Lymph
Whether the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes. X: The lymph nodes were not measured. 0: The lymph nodes do not contain cancer cells. 1: The lymph nodes contain cancer cells. - www.prostate-cancer.org.uk
Metastasis
Whether the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, such as the bone. X: The spread of the cancer was not measured. 0: The cancer has not spread to other parts of the body. 1: The cancer has spread to other parts of the body. - www.prostate-cancer.org.uk
Follow up
The period of time that the health of a patient who participates in a clinical study or trial is tracked.
Gleason
A widely used method for classifying prostate cancer tissue for the degree of loss of the normal glandular architecture (size, shape and differentiation of glands); a grade from 1-5 is assigned. Two Gleason Grade numbers are added together to produce the Gleason Score (from the two most common cancer cells). - www.prostate-cancer.org
Biopsy
Sampling of tissue from the prostate in order to check for abnormalities such as cancer; biopsies are usually carried out under ultrasound guidance using a specially designed device known as a prostate biopsy gun. - www.prostate-cancer.org
TMA
Tissue Microarray - A device for use in high-throughput molecular analysis/screening of clinical tissue specimens. Tissue microarrays spatially arrange 500-1000 tumor biopsies or other tissue onto a microarray block, which is then sliced into sections for probing DNA, RNA or protein targets to provide coincident analysis of all specimens in the array - NCIthesaurus
FFPE
Formalin-Fixed, Paraffin-Embedded tissue
Biomarker
A variation in cellular or biochemical components or processes, structures, or functions that is objectively measurable in a biological system and that characterizes normal biologic processes, pathogenic processes, an organism's state of health or disease, likelihood of developing a disease, prognosis, or response to a particular therapeutic intervention. Biomarkers include but not limited to such phenotypic parameters as specific enzyme or hormone concentration, specific gene phenotype, presence or absence of biological substances. - NCIthesaurus
NCRI
National Cancer Research Institute
MRC
Medical Research Council
TAPG
TransAtlantic Prostate Group
ProMPT
Prostate cancer mechanisms of progressions and treatment
ProtecT
Prostate testing for cancer and treatment
FISH
Fluorescence in situ Hybridization
RRP
Radical Prostatectomy
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