Cancer medicine

Definitions

Tumour, carcinoma, malignancy, and neoplasia are often used interchangeably when people talk about cancers. The following are the correct definitions.

Tumour

This is a Latin word which literally means an “abnormal swelling” of any kind. A tumour can therefore be benign or malignant.

Neoplasm

This means “new growth.” Again this can be benign or malignant. The term neoplasm is preferred to tumour as it is less ambiguous and also less alarming for the patients.

Cancer/carcinoma

This is a malignant tumour/neoplasm. It is derived from the Greek word karkinos meaning crab.

Malignancy

This is synonymous with the medical meaning of cancer.

You may also hear the term carcinomatosis being used by doctors. This refers to disseminated cancer - that is, widespread metastases.

An often asked examination question is, “What is the difference between a benign and a malignant tumour?” Unfortunately, there is no single feature, which distinguishes a benign from a malignant tumour. As always a full history and clinical examination is essential. Particular attention should be paid to regional lymph nodes and liver and lungs for distant metastasis. Table 1 summarises the major …