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Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. If you have been diagnosed with a tumor, the first step your healthcare provider will take is to find out whether it is malignant or benign, as this will affect your treatment plan. In short, the meaning of malignant is cancerous and the meaning of benign is noncancerous.
Learn more about how either diagnosis affects your health. A tumor is an abnormal lump or growth of cells. When the cells in the tumor are normal, it is benign. Something just went wrong, and they overgrew and produced a lump.
When the cells are abnormal and can grow uncontrollably, they are cancerous cells, and the tumor is malignant. To determine whether a tumor is benign or cancerous, a healthcare provider can take a sample of the cells with a biopsy procedure. Then the biopsy is analyzed under a microscope by a pathologist, a healthcare provider specializing in laboratory science.
If the cells are not cancerous, the tumor is benign. It won't invade nearby tissues or spread to other areas of the body metastasize. A benign tumor is less worrisome unless it is pressing on nearby tissues, nerves, or blood vessels and causing damage. Fibroids in the uterus or lipomas are examples of benign tumors. Benign tumors may need to be removed by surgery.
They can grow very large, sometimes weighing pounds. They can be dangerous, such as when they occur in the brain and crowd the normal structures in the enclosed space of the skull. They can press on vital organs or block channels.
Some types of benign tumors such as intestinal polyps are considered precancerous and are removed to prevent them from becoming malignant. Benign tumors usually don't recur once removed, but if they do, it is usually in the same place. Malignant means that the tumor is made of cancer cells , and it can invade nearby tissues. Some cancer cells can move into the bloodstream or lymph nodes, where they can spread to other tissues within the body—this is called metastasis.
For example, breast cancer begins in the breast tissue and may spread to lymph nodes in the armpit if it's not caught early enough and treated. Once breast cancer has spread to the lymph nodes, the cancer cells can travel to other areas of the body, like the liver or bones.
The breast cancer cells can then form tumors in those locations. A biopsy of these tumors might show characteristics of the original breast cancer tumor. Although there are exceptions—for example, although most malignant tumors grow rapidly and most benign ones do not, there are examples of both slow-growing cancerous tumors and noncancerous ones that grow quickly—the main differences between the two types of tumors are clear and consistent.
Here's a snapshot of the main ones:. It can usually be moved around beneath the skin during a breast self-exam. Fibroadenomas are often located near the surface of the breast. Some may be too small to feel and may be detected incidentally on a mammogram. A biopsy is needed to diagnose a fibroadenoma, and your healthcare provider may recommend removal.
Lumpectomy , radiofrequency ablation, and a number of other fibroadenoma treatments can be used to remove the benign tumor. Adenosis is a benign condition characterized by enlargement in the lobules of the breast a breast lobule is a gland that makes milk. Adenosis can produce a lump that feels like a cyst or a tumor.
It can be accompanied by the appearance of calcifications on a mammogram. Mastitis, an infection of the breast, is often accompanied by redness, swelling, and pain. Mammary duct ectasia is a benign condition in which the milk ducts become clogged and swollen, often causing a grayish discharge.
It may cause a small lump just under your nipple, or may cause the nipple to be retracted inward. When the breasts are damaged by surgery or trauma, scar tissue may develop.
Fat necrosis , which feels like a hard lump, may occur. Fat necrosis may cause breast discharge and tethering of the nipple and skin. Fat necrosis can mimic cancer on imaging tests, and a biopsy is needed to tell the difference. Breast oil cysts are fluid-filled sacs that may feel smooth and squishy. They are usually found on a self-breast exam and may be seen on mammogram, ultrasound, or breast MRI.
Caused by the breakdown of fatty tissue, they often occur after breast surgery. They are called oil cysts because they contain a liquid form of body fat. While breast oil cysts do not become cancerous and do not increase the risk of developing breast cancer, they may occur in association with underlying cancer. They can be left alone or aspirated to remove the cyst.
Other benign lumps include breast hematomas , hemangiomas, adenomyoeptheliomas, and neurofibromas. Keep in mind that if you have a benign lump, your risk of breast cancer—a condition that affects one in eight women—is not decreased. While you may breathe a sigh of relief upon diagnosis of a benign breast tumor, you still need to continue your regular mammograms, medical appointments, and breast self-exams. Several breast lumps are not cancer, but are strongly associated with an increased risk of cancer.
Others are pre-cancerous growths, and the cells can transform, becoming cancer cells in the future. While most benign breast lumps are either left alone or removed for comfort, pre-cancerous lumps must be removed. While these tumors are typically benign, they may be associated with an increased risk of cancer, particularly if there are regions of atypical hyperplasia typically seen on a biopsy. Radial scars are an uncommon condition which can be benign, precancerous, or cancerous.
A biopsy is usually needed, especially because cancer cells may be mixed with the radial scar. Atypical lobular hyperplasia and atypical ductal hyperplasia are considered precancerous conditions. Ductal carcinoma in situ DCIS is a cancerous tumor. By definition, they are not considered invasive since they have not yet broken through the basement membrane, a layer of encapsulation that separates the cancer cells from surrounding tissue. Lobular carcinoma in situ LCIS is not precancerous, but it is associated with increased cancer risk.
Phyllodes breast tumors are uncommon and can be either benign or malignant. Most breast cancers begin in epithelial cells and form carcinomas. In contrast, phyllodes tumors begin in mesenchymal cells connective tissue cells and the tumors are defined as sarcomas. Breast cancer is a malignancy composed of abnormal breast tissue cells.
The cancer can grow in an uncontrolled way and may spread within the breast, to the lymph nodes, or to organs in distant areas of the body. Breast cancer can occur anywhere in the breast, but the most common location is the upper, outer section of the breast. It can be located near the surface or deeper inside the breast, close to the chest wall. It can also occur in the armpit area, where there is more breast tissue a.
A breast cancer lump is not typically movable during a breast self-exam, but since tissue around it may move, it's sometimes hard to know what is moving during manual examination.
It is often hard, like a slice of raw carrot. A clinical breast exam and a mammogram may help with the diagnosis, though sometimes an ultrasound or MRI are needed. Even with all of these imaging studies, it may be difficult to know whether a lump is benign or malignant, and you will likely need to have a biopsy.
A biopsy is the only way to distinguish between cancer and a noncancerous condition. The distinct characteristics of each tumor type are more definitively seen on a biopsy.
There are a number of different methods for doing a breast biopsy, including a core needle biopsy or open biopsy, and the best option will depend on the characteristics of the tumor. Finally, it's important to be aware that a breast biopsy usually takes cells from a small portion of a lump, which leaves the possibility of a false negative result a normal biopsy despite breast cancer being present.
On rare occasions, metastases from cancers in other regions of the body , such as colon cancer or lung cancer, may give rise to a new breast lump. A biopsy will distinguish primary breast cancer from metastasis that originated elsewhere in the body. The treatment for breast cancer depends on the stage at diagnosis and is also often targeted to the specific tumor.
In addition to surgery, treatments may include chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, radiation therapy, or targeted therapies. On average, the doubling time for a breast cancer tumor, or time for a tumor to double in size, is approximately 50 to days.
Colon polyps, for example, are often precancerous. Our bodies constantly produce new cells to replace old ones.
Sometimes, DNA gets damaged in the process, so new cells develop abnormally. Instead of dying off, they continue to multiply faster than the immune system can handle, forming a tumor. Cancer cells can break away from tumors and travel through the bloodstream or lymphatic system to other parts of the body. The most common cancers are carcinomas, which develop in epithelial cells. They include the following:. Sarcomas begin in bones , soft tissues , and fibrous tissues.
This can include:. Germ cell tumors begin in cells that produce eggs or sperm. They can also develop in the abdomen, chest, or brain.
Blastomas start in embryonic tissue and developing cells in the brain, eyes, or nervous stem. Children are more likely than adults to develop blastomas. Sometimes, though, you may not know you have a tumor. It may be found during a routine screening or checkup, or during a test for some other symptom. After a physical exam, your doctor may use one or more imaging tests to help confirm a diagnosis, such as:. Blood tests are another common way to help with diagnosis.
But a biopsy is the only way to confirm the presence of cancer. A biopsy involves removing a tissue sample. The location of the tumor will determine whether you need a needle biopsy or some other method, such as colonoscopy or surgery.
The tissue will be sent to a lab and examined under a microscope. Your doctor will receive a pathology report. This report will tell your doctor whether the tissue that was removed is benign, precancerous, or malignant.
A pathology report can reveal specific information about the tumor to help guide treatment, which may include:. Still, there are steps you can take to lower your risk for developing cancerous tumors:. A tumor is a mass of abnormal cells. Many types of benign tumors are harmless and can be left alone.
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