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Although benign tumors pose a lower health risk than malignant tumors, they both can be life-threatening in certain situations. There are many general characteristics which apply to either benign or malignant tumors, but sometimes one type may show characteristics of the other. For example, benign tumors are mostly well differentiated and ...
Malignancy (from Latin male 'badly' and -gnus 'born') is the tendency of a medical condition to become progressively worse; the term is most familiar as a characterization of cancer. A malignant tumor contrasts with a non-cancerous benign tumor in that a malignancy is not self-limited in its growth, is capable of invading into adjacent tissues ...
Tumor is also not synonymous with cancer. While cancer is by definition malignant, a tumor can be benign, precancerous, or malignant. [citation needed] The terms mass and nodule are often used synonymously with tumor. Generally speaking, however, the term tumor is used generically, without reference to the physical size of the lesion. [3]
It is what dictates whether the tumor is benign or malignant, and is the property which enables their dissemination around the body. The cancer cells have to undergo a multitude of changes in order for them to acquire the ability to metastasize, in a multistep process that starts with local invasion of the cells into the surrounding tissues.
Adenocarcinoma is the malignant counterpart to adenoma, which is the benign form of such tumors. Sometimes adenomas transform into adenocarcinomas, but most do not. Well- differentiated adenocarcinomas tend to resemble the glandular tissue that they are derived from, while poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas may not.
The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (ónkos), meaning "tumor", "volume" or "mass". [2] Oncology is concerned with: The diagnosis of any cancer in a person (pathology) Therapy (e.g. surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and other modalities) Follow-up of cancer patients after successful treatment
Malignant transformation is the process by which cells acquire the properties of cancer. This may occur as a primary process in normal tissue, or secondarily as malignant degeneration of a previously existing benign tumor .
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. [2] [7] These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. [7] Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bleeding, prolonged cough, unexplained weight loss, and a change in bowel movements. [1]