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P
- Palliative treatment
- Treatment that aims not to cure a patient but to relieve symptoms.
- Pancreas
- A gland that lies behind the stomach. It produces digestive juices, insulin and other hormones. See cancer of the pancreas section.
- Pancreatectomy
- A total pancreatectomy is an operation to
remove all of the pancreas, part of the stomach, the duodenum, the gall
bladder, part of the bile duct, the spleen and some of the lymph nodes.
A distal pancreatectomy is an operation to remove part of the pancreas, and sometimes the spleen. See cancer of the pancreas section.
- Pancreaticoduodenectomy
- An operation to remove part of the
pancreas. It may also involve removing part of the stomach, the
duodenum, the gall bladder and part of the bile duct. Another name for
it is Whipple's operation.
Sometimes the doctor may be able to operate without removing any of the stomach. This is called a pylorus-preserving Whipple's. See cancer of the pancreas section.
- PCI
- PCI stands for prophylactic cranial irradiation. Sometimes, lung cancer spreads to the brain. PCI tries to prevent this by giving radiotherapy to the brain. See lung cancer section.
- Penectomy
- An operation to remove part or all of the penis. See cancer of the penis section.
- Percutaneous biliary drainage
- A surgical procedure, combined with the use of X-ray equipment, to relieve a blockage in the hepatic or common bile ducts. It is done to relieve obstructive jaundice.
- Percutaneous Transhepatic Cholangiography (PTC)
- PTC is a procedure to X-ray the hepatic and common bile ducts. A dye or contrast medium is injected into the liver or bile duct, and the ducts are then X-rayed to find the point of obstruction. It is used to assist in the operation of percutaneous biliary drainage.
- Peripheral blood stem cell transplant
- A way of giving healthy bone marrow cells back to a patient after high dose chemotherapy treatment. A special machine is used to remove stem cells from the blood. These are stored and given back to the patient through a drip, after the chemotherapy.
- Peritoneal
- having to do with the peritoneum.
- Peritoneal cavity
- the space within the abdomen that contains the intestines, the stomach, the kidneys, the pancreas, the bladder and the liver.
- Peritoneum
- a smooth, elastic, and transparent membrane (fibrous sheet) which lines the walls and organs of the abdomen and pelvis.
- PET scanner
- See positron emission tomography.
- Photo dynamic therapy (PDT)
- A cancer treatment in which a drug is activated by a laser light beam.
- PICC
- PICC stands for peripherally inserted central catheter. It is a long, thin, flexible tube that is put into a vein in the arm, and used to give chemotherapy drugs. See PICC section.
- Plasmacytoma
- A lump that forms when myeloma cells gather in one place. See myeloma section.
- Platelet
- A type of blood cell that helps the blood to clot.
- Pleural effusion
- A build up of fluid around the lungs. Some cancers can cause this build up. The fluid can be drained off through a tube, to make the patient feel more comfortable.
- Pneumonectomy
- An operation to remove the lung. See lung cancer section.
- Polyp
- A non-cancerous growth found in the moist inner linings (mucous membranes) of the body.
- Polypectomy
- A minor surgical operation to remove polyps.
- Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
- a
gamma camera scanner that picks up gamma rays (which are very similar
to X-rays) from radioactive chemicals that have been injected,
swallowed or breathed into the body.
For a PET scan, the patient is injected with a small amount of a radioactive sugar, which gathers in cancer cells inside the body. A special scanner (sometimes attached to a Computerised Tomography scanner) then produces a picture of the body which shows up cancer cells.
Not many hospitals have PET scanners yet. If your medical team thinks you need it, you will be referred to one that does.
- Precancerous
- A condition that shows cellular changes that indicate it may become cancerous.
- Primary health care
- First contact health care provided by a GP or other health professional. This includes the care given by dentists, opticians, pharmacists and other community health services.
- Primary site
- The place in the body where a cancer first grows.
- Prognosis
- the assessment of the future course and outcome of a disease.
- Progressing or progressive cancer
- A phrase used to mean that, despite initial treatment, the cancer is growing, spreading or getting worse.
- Prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI)
- Sometimes, lung cancer spreads to the brain. PCI tries to prevent this by giving radiotherapy to the brain. See lung cancer section.
- Prostate
- The prostate is a gland found only in men, It is located behind the pubic bone, at the bottom of the bladder. It produces a thick white fluid that is part of the semen. Prostate cancer is a common cancer that starts in the cells of the prostate gland. See prostate cancer section.
- Prostate-specific antigen (PSA)
- PSA is a substance found in all men, in the fluid made by the prostate. It can be detected in a blood test. A high level of PSA may be a sign of prostate cancer (but this is not always the case). See prostate cancer section.
- Prostatectomy
- An operation to remove the prostate gland.
- Prosthesis
- A false body part. For example, a woman who has had a breast removed may decide to wear a breast prosthesis inside her bra.
- PSA
- PSA stands for prostate-specific antigen. PSA is a substance found in all men, in the fluid made by the prostate. It can be detected in a blood test. A high level of PSA may be a sign of prostate cancer (but this is not always the case). See prostate cancer section.
