PFS
Abbreviation with 2 meanings
| Stands for | Progression-free survival |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 2 |
| Categories | Medical, Technology & Computing |
PFS has two meanings. It stands for Progression-free survival (hematology and oncology) or Perfect forward secrecy (cybersecurity).
Meanings of PFS at a glance
| # | PFS stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Progression-free survival | Medical › Hematology and Oncology |
| 2 | Perfect forward secrecy | Technology & Computing › Cybersecurity |
1. Progression-free survival
Medical · Hematology and Oncology Abbreviations
Time from randomization or the start of treatment until the cancer grows or spreads, or the patient dies, whichever comes first. It is one of the most common primary end points in cancer trials because it can be measured sooner than overall survival.
Example: Median PFS 16.6 months with the combination versus 9.2 months with the control arm.
PFS can be assessed earlier and is not influenced by later treatments, but improvements do not always translate into longer overall survival or better quality of life, which has made its use as a basis for drug approval a recurring debate. Assessment relies on imaging schedules and criteria such as RECIST. Blinded independent central review reduces bias.
2. Perfect forward secrecy
Technology & Computing · Cybersecurity Abbreviations
A property of key-exchange protocols in which each session uses fresh temporary keys, so stealing a server's long-term private key later does not allow recorded past traffic to be decrypted.
Example: With PFS enabled, the leaked server key can't unlock last year's captured traffic.
Achieved with ephemeral Diffie-Hellman key exchange (DHE or ECDHE), which TLS 1.3 requires for every connection. Interest grew after the 2013 Snowden disclosures about bulk collection of encrypted traffic for later decryption. Also called simply forward secrecy.
Related abbreviations
More hematology and oncology abbreviations
- pCR – Pathologic complete response
- PD – Progressive disease
- PD-1 – Programmed cell death protein 1
- PD-L1 – Programmed death-ligand 1
- Ph – Philadelphia chromosome
- PMF – Primary myelofibrosis
- PNH – Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria
- PR – Partial response
See all 144 hematology and oncology abbreviations →
More cybersecurity abbreviations
- OTP – One-time password
- OWASP – Open Worldwide Application Security Project
- PAM – Privileged access management
- PCI DSS – Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard
- PGP – Pretty Good Privacy
- PII – Personally identifiable information
- PKI – Public key infrastructure
- PUP – Potentially unwanted program
See all 119 cybersecurity abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.