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The "Plasias" - Neoplasia
“;A neoplasm is an abnormal mass of tissue, the growth of which exceeds and is uncoordinated with that of the normal tissue and persists in the same excessive manner after cessation of the stimuli which evoked the change”; Sir Rupert Willis
A malignant tumour is an abnormal mass with purposeless growth, it competes with normal cells and preys on the host. It’;s growth is autonomous and dependent on neovascularization (neoangiogenesis). There are two basic components to neoplastic growth, the proliferating neoplastic cells or parenchyma and the supportive stroma of connective tissue and blood vessels.
Normally cells grow and divide in an ordered and predictable fashion. A tumour is an abnormal growth of cells. Tumours can be benign or malignant; non-cancerous or cancerous. Malignant tumours grow and divide without regulation and can invade locally and spread to other areas of the body - malignant cells are destructive.
The distinction between benign and malignant depends on:
Differentiation and anaplasia
Rate of growth
Local invasion
Metasatasis
The language of oncology
