Palliative

Palliative care is a multidisciplinary approach to specialised medical care for people with serious illnesses. It focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, physical stress, and mental stress of a serious illness—whatever the diagnosis. The goal of such therapy is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family

 

Paracentesis                                                                                                                                                                    A process by which fluid build up in the abdomen, which can occur with ovarian cancer, is removed by inserting a needle into the affected area, and drained off.

 

PICC line

Peripherally inserted central catheter; a long, thin flexible tube which is inserted into one of the large veins of the arm until the tip is just above the heart.

 

Prognosis

How the disease is expected to progress and what the outcome is likely to be.

 

Prophylactic

Treatment given to prevent an illness or stop it from coming back.

 

Protein

Large molecules composed of amino acids whose specific order is determined by the DNA sequence in the gene that encodes it. Proteins each have unique functions to perform a wide variety of activities and, as such, they are essential to the life of the cell.

 

Proteome

Proteins expressed by a cell or organ at a given time and under specific conditions.

 

Proteomics

The study of the structure and function of all of the proteins encoded by a genome.

 

Peritoneum

Lining of the abdominal cavity.