- Palliative care:
- Treatment that relieves symptoms, such as pain, but is not expected to cure the disease. The main purpose is to improve the patient's quality of life.
- Pancytopenia:
- A condition in which there are reduced numbers of all types of blood cells.
- Partial remission:
- The reduction, but not complete disappearance, of cancer in response to therapy.
- Pathologist:
- A doctor who specializes in examining tissue and diagnosing disease.
- -penia:
- A suffix which indicates abnormally low numbers of blood cells. Examples include, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, and erythropenia.
- Peptide:
- Two or more amino acids chemically bonded to form a single molecule.
- Peripheral blood:
- Blood circulating throughout the body.
- Peripheral neuropathy:
- Numbness, tingling, burning, and weakness in the extremities This condition usually affects the hands and feet and may occur as a complication of chemotherapy.
- Performance Status:
- A classification used for describing the status of cancer patients. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines performance status in terms of the following grade levels: 0 – able to carry out all normal activity without restriction; 1 – restricted in physically strenuous activity but ambulatory and able to do light work; 2 – ambulatory and capable of self-care but unable to carry out any work; 3 – capable of only limited self-care confined to bed or chair 50% or more of waking hours; and 4 – completely disabled and cannot carry on any self-care.
- Petechiae:
- Tiny red spots under the skin; often a symptom of leukemia.
- Phagocytosis:
- The process by which phagocytes (literally, cell eaters) surround and destroy micro-organisms or any foreign matter.
- Pheresis:
- A procedure in which blood is removed from a donor, separated, and a portion retained, with the remainder being returned to the donor.
- Philadelphia chromosome:
- An abnormal chromosome that is formed when part of chromosome 9 attaches to chromosome 22 (translocation). This abnormality is found in nearly all cases of chronic myeloid leukemia. Also called as Ph1.
- Plasma:
- The liquid portion of the blood.
- Plasma cells:
- Large cells derived from the lymphocytes that form antibodies. Plasma cells are normally restricted to the bone marrow and lymph nodes and are not found in circulating blood.
- Platelets:
- Blood cells that help to control bleeding by inducing clotting. Also called thrombocytes.
- Pneumocystosis:
- Pneumonia resulting from infection with Pneumocystis carinii, frequently seen in immunologically compromised or steroid-treated individuals.
- Polymerase chain reaction (PCR):
- A laboratory process in which a particular DNA segment from a mixture of DNA chains is rapidly replicated, producing a large, readily analyzed sample of a piece of DNA.
- Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN):
- Pain that continues after the rash from shingles has healed.
- Preleukemic condition:
- A disease of the blood that is not yet cancer but may become leukemia in the future
- Progenitor cell (also Precursor cell):
- An immature cell in the bone marrow which is responsible for producing mature blood cells.
- Prognosis:
- The probable outcome or course of a disease; the chance of recovery.
- Prolymphocytic leukemia (PLL):
- A variant of chronic lymphocytic leukemia in which the malignant cells have a more immature appearance.
- Prophylaxis:
- An attempt to prevent disease.
- Protein:
- A large number of amino acids chemically bonded in a chain. Proteins are large peptides.
- Protocol:
- A schedule of treatment.
- Purging:
- Removal of tumour cells from harvested bone marrow or blood before autologous transplantation.
- Purpura:
- A condition characterized by the occurrence of purple spots on the skin, often accompanied by bleeding from the gums.