Glossary beginning with P

P

PCR

qRT-PCR, quantitative reverse transcriptase (real time) polymerase chain reaction, a sensitive molecular test used to measure the ratio of BCR-ABL1 versus normal gene transcripts such as ABL1 or BCR.

Peripheral blood

Blood that circulates throughout the body via the venous system.

PFS

Progression free survival; a survival rate that measures the length of time either during or after treatment, during which the disease does not progress.

Ph+

Abbreviation for the Philadelphia chromosome.

Philadelphia Chromosome

An abnormal shortened chromosome 22 found in the marrow and blood cells of patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia and a small proportion of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. First described in 1960 by Peter Nowell from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and David Hungerford from the Fox Chase Institute for Cancer Research and named after Philadelphia.

Platelets

A type of blood cell that controls bleeding through a clotting mechanism.

ponatinib

A third generation TKI - currently the only TKI therapy effective against the multi-drug resistant mutation known as T315i.

Proteins

Products of genes produced in the cytoplasm of the cell, they signal for a variety of processes including cell division, proliferation and cell death (apoptosis).

Proto-oncogene

A normal gene such as ABL1, that has the capacity to transform into an oncogene with increased cancerous activity, by a relatively small modification of its original function, such as the translocation event of chromosomes 9 and 22 in CML.

Pulmonary oedema

Edema (Americn English) or oedema (British English is the accumulation of fluid in the air spaces of the lungs.

Go to top