Mesothelioma Glossary I

Click on the letters below for an explanation of the glossary terms for each letter.

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Imaging tests - takes pictures of the lungs and can detect problems such as a mass, an infection, and air in the pleural space. Visual imaging tests include chest X-rays, and CTs.

Immunohistochemical - refers to use of antibody-antigen stains to create reactions to locate markers specific to certain tissues or cells. This staining of human tissue is used to diagnose mesothelioma.

Immunostaining - the use by pathologists of specific proteins with color producing labels attached to them to stain tissue sections to differentiate one tumor from another. It is particularly important to use a battery of immunostains to tell whether the biopsy is a mesothelioma or a lung cancer.

Immunotherapy - treatment to stimulate the body's immune system to recognize, attack, and destroy cancer cells. It is also called biotherapy.

IMRT (Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy) - a type of 3-dimensional radiation therapy that uses computer-generated images to show the size and shape of the tumor. Thin beams of radiation of different intensities are aimed at the tumor from many angles. This type of radiation therapy reduces the damage to healthy tissue near the tumor and is being explored in mesothelioma.

Infarction, pulmonary - hemorrhagic consolidation (often followed by necrosis) of lung parenchyma resulting from thromboembolic pulmonary artery occlusion

Informed consent - the process in which a person learns key facts about a clinical trial and voluntarily agrees to take part in it by signing a consent form describing the potential risks and benefits of treatment

Infusion - slow and/or prolonged delivery of a drug or fluids through a vein or artery

Interlobar - between the lobes of the lungs

Internal radiation therapy - radioactive material is placed in or near a tumor

Interstitial fibrosis - chronic inflammation of the alveolar walls with a tendency to destroy the lung architecture by consequent healing with progressively severe fibrosis. The progressive nature distinguishes it from other self-limiting forms of lung fibroses.

Interstitium - the area between air sacs of the lung where the blood vessels are located and where oxygenation occurs

Intraoperative photodynamic therapy - a new treatment that uses special drugs and light to kill cancer cells. Its use in the early states of mesothelioma in the chest is being studied.

Intraperitoneally - inserting chemotherapy drugs directly into the abdominal cavity

Intrapleurally - inserting chemotherapy drugs directly into the chest cavity

Ischemia - the absence of blood supply to an area