See Hickman Catheter -

A fine cannula inserted into a vein in the neck to allow administration of drugs and repeated blood samples.

An abnormal multiplication of brain cells.  This forms a swelling that compresses or destroys the healthy brain cells and – because of the rigid nature of the skull – increases the pressure on the brain tissue.  Malignant tumours grow rapidly, spreading through the otherwise normal brain tissue and causing progressive neurological disability.  Benign tumours grow slowly and compress the brain tissue.  Both benign and malignant tumours commonly cause fits.

The clear watery fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. 

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) collection is a test to look at the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord.

The prevention or treatment of disease by the use of chemical substances. 

A rare form of cancer originating in the outermost of the membranes (chorion) surrounding the fetus. 

One of the threadlike structures in a cell nucleus that carry the genetic information in the form of genes.

Describing a disease of long duration involving very slow changes.

Lymphocytic leukaemia that is marked by an abnormal increase in the number of mature lymphocytes and especially B cells, that is characterised by slow onset and progression of symptoms which include anaemia, pallor, fatigue, appetite loss, granulocytopenia, thrombocytopenia, hypogammaglobulinemia, and enlargement of the lymph nodes, liver, and spleen, and that occurs especially in older adults.

Myelogenous leukaemia that is marked by an abnormal increase in mature and immature granulocytes (as neutrophils, eosinophils, and myelocytes) especially in bone marrow and blood, that is characterised by fatigue, weakness, loss of appetite, spleen and liver enlargement, anaemia, thrombocytopenia, and ultimately a dangerous increase in blast cells and especially myeloblasts and lymphoblasts, that occurs especially in adults, and that is associated with the presence of the Philadelphia chromosome.

A development of diagnostic radiology for the examination of the soft tissues of the body.

Treatments that are widely accepted and practiced by the mainstream medical community.

Any steroid hormone synthesised by the adrenal cortex.

A brain tumour derived from remnants of Rathke’s pouch, an embryologic structure from which the pituitary gland is partly formed.  The patient may show raised intracranial pressure and diabetes insipidus due to reduced secretion of the hormone vaso-pressin.  An X-ray of the skull typically shows calcification within the tumour and loss of the normal skull structure around the pituitary gland.

The use of cold in the treatment of disorders.

The jelly-like substance that surrounds the nucleus of a cell.

A drug that damages or destroys cells and is used to treat various types of cancer either with or without the use of radiotherapy.