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Ablation -
Destruction.
Adjuvant - Assisting or aiding. Used
to describe a secondary treatment that is applied following definitive
local therapy.
Adrenalectomy - Removal of the adrenal
galand.
Androgen - Any substance that possesses
masculinizing activities. Androgens elicit growth of both normal
prostate and most malignant prostatic cells.
Androgen Deprivation- A therapeutic
strategy designed to decrease circulating levels of androgen,
such as testosterone. Can be done by removing organs that produce
testosterone (i.e., testicles, called orchiectomy), or by giving
medication.
Androgen receptor (AR) - Protein from
the intracellular receptor (IR) superfamily that mediates actions
of androgen agonists and antagonists by binding both to the ligands
and to genomic sites close to genes whose expression is regulated
by androgens.
Androgen response element (ARE) - Specific
genomic sites to which AR binds with high affinity and modulates
transcription of nearby genes; AR may associate with AREs by binding
directly to DNA, by binding to a nonreceptor factor that is bound
to the DNA, or both.
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Aneuploid - Having more
or less than the normal or diploid number of chromosomes.
Angiogenesis - The birth of new blood
vessels.
Antiandrogen - Oral agents such as
flutamide (Eulexin), bicalutamide (Casodex), and nilutamide that
block the action of testosterone and its active metabolite dihydrotestosterone
(DHT) at the cellular level by interfering with androgen receptor
interactions.
Antiandrogen withdrawal (AAWD) - A
clinical syndrome in which discontinuation of an antiandrogen
in a patient with progressive disease may result in PSA declines,
symptomatic improvement, and tumor regression; occurs in 15-30%
of eligible patients.
Antibody - A molecule made by the immune
system which circulates in body fluid. An antibody has a specific
amino acid sequence which interacts only with the antigen that
induces its synthesis.
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Antigen - A peptide derived from viral,
tumor and in some cases, self products, capable under appropriate
conditions of inducing a specific immune response.
Antigen presenting cell - Cell that
displays on its surface peptides that can be recognized by T cell
antigen receptor. "Professional" antigen presenting
cells with the capacity to elicit T cell responses are limited
in origin (dendritic cells and macrophages) and also display costimulatory
ligands (B7). Other antigen presenting cells (normal epithelial,
endothelial and tumor cells) do not co-express costimulatory ligand
and have only limited ability to activate naive T cells.
Antigen receptor - Structure used by
T lymphocytes to recognize antigens.
Apoptosis - Programmed cell death.
Augmentation cystoplasty - The use
of a segment of intestine to increase bladder capacity.
Autocrine - Self-acting. For example,
a growth factor which acts directly upon the cell which produces
it.
Autotransplantation - Removal of the
kidney and placement in the pelvis near the bladder.
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