Biofeedback
The technique of making unconscious or involuntary bodily processes (as heartbeat or brain waves) perceptible to the senses in order to manipulate them by conscious mental control
Chemotherapy
The use of chemical agents in the treatment or control of disease or mental disorder
Metastasis
The spread of a disease-producing agency (such as cancer cells or bacteria) from the initial or primary site of disease to another part of the body
Myoelectric
Utilizing electricity generated by muscle
Occupational Therapy
Therapy based on engagement in meaningful activities of daily life (as self-care skills, education, work, or social interaction) especially to enable or encourage participation in such activities despite impairments or limitations in physical or mental functioning
Physical Therapy
The treatment of disease by physical and mechanical means (as massage, regulated exercise, water, light, heat, and electricity)
Prosthesis
An artificial device to replace or augment a missing or impaired part of the body
Radiation Therapy
The treatment of disease by means of radiation (as X-rays)
Clinical Trial
A scientifically controlled study of the safety and effectiveness of a therapeutic agent (as a drug or vaccine) using consenting human subjects
Controlled Study
Clinical trials in which the subjects are distributed into groups that are either subjected to the experimental procedure (as the use of a drug) or which serve as controls
Double Blind Study
An experimental procedure in which neither the subjects nor the experimenters know which subjects are in the test and control groups during the actual course of the experiments
Nanomedicine
Area of biomedical research that seeks to use tools from the field of nanotechnology to improve health
Open Study
Clinical trial in which both the researchers and the patients know who receives the drug and who receives a placebo
Pharmacogenetics
The study of the interrelation of hereditary constitution and response to drugs
Placebo
An inert or innocuous substance used especially in controlled experiments testing the efficacy of another substance (as a drug)
Single Blind Study
An experimental procedure in which the experimenters but not the subjects know the makeup of the test and control groups during the actual course of the experiments
SNP
Variant DNA sequence in which the purine or pyrimidine base of a single nucleotide has been replaced by another such base (also called single nucleotide polymorphism)
Allele
Any of the alternative forms of a gene that may occur at a given locus
BRCA
Either of two tumor suppressor genes (BRCA1 and BRCA2) that in mutated form tend to be associated with an increased risk of certain cancers and especially breast and ovarian cancers
Cryosurgery
Surgery in which diseased or abnormal tissue (as a tumor or wart) is destroyed or removed by freezing (as by the use of liquid nitrogen)
Familial Cancer
Cancer that occurs in families more often than would be expected by chance. These cancers often occur at an early age, and may indicate the presence of a gene mutation that increases the risk of cancer. They may also be a sign of shared environmental or lifestyle factors
Genetic Marker
Alteration in DNA that may indicate an increased risk of developing a specific disease or disorder
Hereditary Cancer
An inherited disorder in which affected individuals have a higher-than-normal chance of developing certain types of cancer, often before the age of 50
Marker Analysis
A genetic technique whereby the sequence of the gene is not directly analyzed, but the mutant copy (allele) of the gene is inferred through analysis of a genetic marker
Microsatellite (also known as Short Tandem Repeats-STRs)
Any of numerous short segments of DNA that are distributed throughout the genome, that consist of repeated sequences of usually two to five nucleotides, and that are often useful markers in studies of genetic linkage because they tend to vary from one individual to another
Melanoma
A tumor of high malignancy that starts in melanocytes of normal skin or moles and metastasizes rapidly and widely
Screening
To test or examine for the presence of something (as a disease)
Sporadic Cancer
Cancer occurring occasionally, singly, or in scattered instances
Virologist
A specialist in virology, the branch of science that deals with viruses