Glossary: velafermin

Treatment with drugs that kill cancer cells.

A connective tissue cell that makes and secretes collagen proteins.

A complication of some cancer therapies in which the lining of the digestive system becomes inflamed. Often seen as sores in the mouth.

By or having to do with the mouth.

In medicine, action taken to decrease the chance of getting a disease or condition. For example, cancer prevention includes avoiding risk factors (such as smoking, obesity, lack of exercise, and radiation exposure) and increasing protective factors (such as getting regular physical activity, staying at a healthy weight, and having a healthy diet).

In genetics, describes DNA, proteins, cells, or organisms that are made by combining genetic material from two different sources. Recombinant substances are made in the laboratory and are being studied in the treatment of cancer and for many other uses.

A substance that is being studied in the prevention and treatment of oral mucositis (sores in the mouth) in patients receiving high-dose chemotherapy. Velafermin belongs to the family of drugs called recombinant human fibroblast growth factors (rhFGF).