sarcoma – medical term for cancer that affects bone, cartilage, fat, muscle, blood vessels, skin or other connective tissue.
Glossary
Selected words and phrases
natural history – the pattern a disease follows if it is not treated. The natural history of HIV includes very high viral load in the first weeks or months of infection (seroconversion), a drop in CD4 counts that then recovers, and then a slower progressive increase in viral load and decrease in CD4 count, that eventually lead to opportunistic infections.
Hickman line – a fixed central line that is used to deliver IV drugs close to where they are needed in the body.
toxicity – medical word for side effect, the potential harm a drug can cause.
ARV – a drug that works against a retrovirus, eg treatment for HIV. See: antiretroviral.