Glossary

The purpose of this page is to define terms specific to HemOnc.org as well as other commonly used acronyms, with a few important exceptions:
*Antineoplastic regimen acronyms and drug synonyms/code names are defined on the pages where they are found (we may add some more common ones here, in the future)
*Outcome metrics (e.g., PFS) are available on this page.
*A list of study groups and their acronyms is available on this page.
*A list of professional organizations and their acronyms is available on this page.
Note that this page is very much a work-in-progress at this time (January 2025)!
=1=
*1L: first line of therapy, typically in the advanced or metastatic setting
=2=
*2L: second line of therapy, typically in the advanced or metastatic setting
*2L+: second line or subsequent therapy, typically in the advanced or metastatic setting
=3=
*3L: third line of therapy, typically in the advanced or metastatic setting
=A=
*ABC: advanced breast cancer
*ADT: androgen deprivation therapy; as used in the field of prostate cancer, ADT is a specific term for GnRH agonism/antagonism.
*Allo HSCT: allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant
**MRD allo HSCT: matched related donor allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant
**MUD allo HSCT: matched unrelated donor allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant
*AML: acute myeloid leukemia
*Auto HSCT: autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant, also sometimes called high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell rescue.
=B=
*B-ALL: B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia
*Backbone: An acronym representing two or more drugs that form the foundation for subsequent additive regimens; see this page for more information.
*BRCAm: BRCA gene mutation present. Usually used to refer to any deleterious mutations present in BRCA1 and/or BRCA2.
**gBRCAm: BRCA gene mutation present. Usually used to refer to any deleterious germline mutations present in BRCA1 and/or BRCA2.
*BTC: biliary tract cancer (cholangiocarcinoma, gallbladder cancer, and periampullary carcinoma)
=C=
*CAD: cold agglutinin disease; note that outside of classical hematology, this acronym nearly always stands for coronary artery disease.
*ccRCC: clear cell renal cell carcinoma
*cHL: classical Hodgkin lymphoma
*CINV: chemotherapy-induced nausea/vomiting
*CIPN: chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy
*CLL: chronic lymphocytic leukemia
*CML: chronic myeloid leukemia
*CMML: chronic myelomonocytic leukemia
*CRC: colorectal cancer
**mCRC: metastatic colorectal cancer
*CRT: chemoradiotherapy
*CT: chemotherapy
*CTCL: cutaneous T-cell lymphoma
*CTLA-4: cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4, an immunomodulatory receptor. Ipilimumab was the first drug approved to target this receptor, in 2011. Discovery of this cancer therapy was the basis of the portion of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded to James P. Allison.
=D=
*DLBCL: diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, the most common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
*DTC: differentiated thyroid cancer
=E=
*EBC: early breast cancer
*EBRT: external beam radiotherapy
*EGFRm: epidermal growth factor-mutated; usually used in reference to NSCLC, i.e., EGFRm NSCLC
*ER: estrogen receptor
*ESA: erythropoiesis-stimulating agent
*ESCC: esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
=F=
*FL: follicular lymphoma
=G=
*GBM: glioblastoma multiforme
*GCT: germ cell tumor
*GEJ: gastro-esophageal junction
*GIST: gastrointestinal stromal tumor
*GVHD: graft versus host disease
**aGVHD: acute graft versus host disease
**cGVHD: chronic graft versus host disease
=H=
*HCC: hepatocellular carcinoma
*HER2: human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2. This is the common name for this gene used in the oncology community; the standard name for this gene is ERBB2.
*HPVOPC: Human Papillomavirus oropharyngeal carcinoma
*HR: hazard ratio
**aHR: adjusted hazard ratio. Typically, adjustment is not felt to be necessary as the randomization process in the randomized clinical trial (RCT) design is supposed to equalize potential confounders that might have independently affected the results. However, it turns out that there is still often imbalance observed in RCT groups, and adjustment is one approach to mitigating the potential bias.
**sHR: stratified hazard ratio
*HR+ breast cancer: hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, referring to positive estrogen receptor (ER) and/or progesterone receptor (PR). The threshold and methods for defining positivity have changed over time; please see the 2020 ASCO/CAP guidelines for more information.
*HRD: homologous recombination deficiency
*HRQoL: health-related quality of life
=I=
*ICI: immune checkpoint inhibitor
*IHC: immunohistochemistry
*iNHL: indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma
*irAE: immune-related adverse event
*ITT: intention-to-treat. For superiority randomized clinical trial designs, this is the widely accepted standard for approach to analysis - data should be analyzed based on the groups that were assigned, regardless of whether a patient did or did not receive the assigned treatment. The reasoning for this approach is that deviations in the treatment plan, most notably including crossover from one group to the other, will tend to bias the results towards the null (negative) result.
=L=
*LAHNSCC: locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
*LARC: locally advanced rectal cancer
=M=
*MBC: metastatic breast cancer
*MCL: mantle cell lymphoma
*m (prefix): A lower-case "m" is often used to denote metastatic status, with common examples:
**mCRC: metastatic colorectal cancer
**mCRPC: metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer
**mHSPC: metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer
*MDS: myelodysplastic syndrome
*MF: myelofibrosis
**PMF: primary myelofibrosis
*MM: multiple myeloma
**NDMM: newly-diagnosed multiple myeloma
**RRMM: relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma
**SMM: smoldering multiple myeloma
*MPM: malignant pleural mesothelioma
=N=
*NACRT: neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy
*NACT: neoadjuvant chemotherapy
*NDMM: newly-diagnosed multiple myeloma
*NET: neuroendocrine tumor
*NHL: non-Hodgkin lymphoma
**iNHL: indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma
*NNBC: node-negative breast cancer
*NPC: nasopharyngeal carcinoma
*NSAA: nonsteroidal antiandrogen
*NSCLC: non-small cell lung cancer
**nsqNSCLC: nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer
**sqNSCLC: squamous non-small cell lung cancer
*NYR: not yet reached; generally used to report an endpoint such as median survival that has not yet been observed at the time of a clinical trial publication
=P=
*PCa: prostate cancer
*PCNSL: primary central nervous system lymphoma
*PD-1: programmed cell death 1, an immunomodulatory receptor. Discovery of cancer therapy targeting this receptor was the basis of the portion of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded to Tasuku Honjo.
*PD-L1: programmed cell death-ligand 1, an immunomodulatory receptor. Discovery of cancer therapy targeting this receptor was the basis of the portion of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded to Tasuku Honjo.
*PDAC: pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
*ph1: phase 1 nonrandomized clinical trial; typically conducted in a tumor agnostic approach with a dose-escalation design. Over time these have become more targeted to certain subgroups, especially those testing targeted therapies, and these have also sometimes been used to support regulatory approvals (usually but not always accelerated approvals)
*ph2: phase 2 nonrandomized clinical trial; intended to demonstrate preliminary efficacy in a targeted population; sometimes used for regulatory approvals (usually but not always accelerated approvals)
**rph2: randomized phase 2 clinical trial
*ph3: phase 3 randomized clinical trial; considered the gold standard of prospective clinical evaluation
*PR: progesterone receptor
*PRO: patient-reported outcome
*PSROC: platinum-sensitive, relapsed ovarian cancer
=R=
*r/r: relapsed/refractory
*RBC-TI: red blood cell transfusion independence
*RCC: renal cell carcinoma
**ccRCC: clear cell renal cell carcinoma
*RCT: randomized clinical trial
*RMS: rhabdomyosarcoma
*RRMM: relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma
=S=
*SACT: systemic anticancer therapy (inclusive of any type of treatment modality that has an anticancer effect, provided that the effect is throughout the body, notwithstanding issues such as the blood-brain barrier)
*SCCHN: squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck
*SCLC: small cell lung cancer
**ES-SCLC: extensive stage small cell lung cancer
**LS-SCLC: limited stage small cell lung cancer
*SERD: selective estrogen receptor degrader
*SMM: smoldering multiple myeloma
*SOC: standard of care
*STS: soft tissue sarcoma
=T=
*TACE: transarterial chemoembolization
*TGCT: tenosynovial giant cell tumor
*TKI: tyrosine kinase inhibitor
*TMB: tumor mutation burden
**TMB-H high tumor mutation burden
*TNBC: triple-negative breast cancer (ER-negative, PR-negative, and HER2-negative)
*TWiST: time without significant symptoms of disease progression or toxicity
**Q-TWiST: quality-adjusted TWiST
=U=
*UTUC: upper tract urothelial carcinoma
=V=
*VEGF: vascular endothelial growth factor
*VEGFR: vascular endothelial growth factor receptor
*VTE: venous thromboembolism
Category:General reference pages