Cancer Research Glossary

Plain-language explanations of terms you'll encounter when reading about cancer research — from treatment types to trial statistics.

Treatments

Treatments that use the body's immune system to fight cancer.

Drugs that kill rapidly dividing cells, including cancer cells.

Drugs that block specific molecules that cancer cells need to grow.

A type of immunotherapy that reprograms a patient's own T cells to attack cancer.

Treatments that reduce or block hormones that fuel certain cancers.

A type of immunotherapy that genetically engineers a patient's own T cells to recognise and destroy cancer cells.

Drugs that block PARP enzymes, exploiting DNA repair defects in cancer cells such as those with BRCA mutations.

A measurable biological signal used to detect disease or predict treatment response.

A change in DNA sequence that can drive cancer development.

A protein that promotes cell growth — overexpressed in some breast and stomach cancers.

Genes whose mutations significantly raise the risk of breast and ovarian cancers.

One of the most common cancer-driving mutations, found in lung, colon, and pancreatic cancers.

A research study that tests a medical intervention in human volunteers.

The stages a new treatment must pass through before it can be approved for routine use.

The gold-standard trial design, where participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups.

The percentage of patients still alive after a set period — a key clinical trial endpoint.

The proportion of patients whose cancer shrinks or disappears after treatment.

A statistical method that combines results from multiple studies for a stronger conclusion.