TAL: The Acronym List

Many KIDNEY-ONC newbies are confused by the welter of acronyms. Here lives help! Some acronyms are specific to cancer and kidney cancer and others are used Internet-wide. In the spirit of buy one, get one free, we give you both!

Commonly Used Acronyms on Kidney-Onc

CR
Complete Response - no cancer can be detected after treatment. Note that tumors too small to see may still be present and may cause a later relapse. See also PR
Dx
Diagnosis as in "Dx'd with RCC just last week"
HD IL-2
High-dose IL-2 (see below); a program of Interleukin treatment involving high doses delivered in a hospital ICU or specialized Interleukin ward
IL-2
Interleukin-2. A powerful immune stimulating drug which is FDA approved for the treatment of metastatic RCC
IFN
Interferon. Another biological drug which is often used to treat metastatic RCC, often in conjunction with IL-2 or other drugs. There are actually quite a few different types of interferon. The interferon used most to treat RCC is alpha-interferon
KCA or NKCA
Kidney Cancer Association - an organization just for us! Call them at 800-850-9132 or check out their web site.
LD IL-2
Low-dose IL-2 (see above), in which Interleukin-2 is taken at home in low doses administered by self-injection under the skin
RCC
Renal Cell Carcinoma - the most common adult kidney cancer.
TCC
Transitional Cell Carcinoma - a much rarer form of kidney cancer which is related to bladder cancer.
Mets
Short for metastases which secondary tumors which have started from cells shed by the kidney cancer.
NED
Standard oncology jargon for No Evidence of Disease - no sign of cancer anywhere - a good thing! On the list we talk about staying with "Uncle NED". This is not standard oncology jargon!
NCI
National Cancer Institute - the US National Cancer Research Institute - does many clinical trials (experimental treatment tests) for kidney cancer.
NIH
National Institutes of Health - parent organization of NCI
ONC
Oncologist - a doctor specializing in cancer treatment... there are medical oncologists who specialize in drug treatment as well as radiation oncologists and surgical oncologists.
PR
Partial Response - roughly a shrinkage of total tumor mass of at least 50% but with some detectable tumor still remaining. See also CR.
Tx
Treatment
TLA
Three Letter Acronym. See RCC, TCC, NED, IFN, KCA, NCI, NIH, TLA.

Commonly Used Acronyms On the Internet

IMHO all the acronyms used on the net sure can be confusing! BTW, IMHO means, "In My Humble Opinion." FWIW, BTW means "By The Way." For What It's Worth, If you think my writing style is funny, you may be LOL. If you think it's more funny, you might not only be Laughing Out Loud, but you may be ROTFL. If you think it's REALLY funny you might not merely be Rolling On The Floor Laughing, but you may actually be ROTFLMAO. And that means, "Rolling On The Floor Laughing My Ass Off"! And saving the acronym most appropriate to KIDNEY-ONC for last, YMMV means, "Your Mileage May Vary."
This Kidney-Onc FAQ Page By Steve Dunn. Copyright 2001 Steve Dunn
Last Updated April 3, 2007