Tumors and Neoplasms

Overview

A neoplasm is an abnormal growth of cells. It forms when the body's normal way of making and replacing cells goes wrong. When a neoplasm becomes a lump, mass or lesion, it is called a tumor. Many neoplasms form tumors, so the two words are often used to mean the same thing. Unlike cysts, tumors are usually solid and firm, because they are made of clumps of abnormal cells. A tumor or neoplasm can be benign (not cancer) or malignant (cancer).

Signs of a Tumor

How a tumor feels depends on its size, place and type. It may feel firm, solid, soft, smooth or bumpy, and it sometimes causes pain or discomfort. Many tumors are too deep to feel and show up only on x-rays or other imaging tests. Because a tumor can be serious, have a doctor check any new lump, growth, mass or lesion you notice.

Benign or Malignant

A tumor is malignant when its abnormal cells can grow into the tissue around it and spread to other parts of the body (metastasis). If the cells cannot do this, the tumor is benign.

Benign tumors

A benign tumor has no cancer cells. It usually grows slowly, stays in one area, cannot spread, and is usually not serious. But a benign tumor can grow large or press on organs, nerves or blood vessels, and then it may need to be removed. Examples:

• Lipoma — a growth of fat cells, usually just under the skin.
• Fibroma — a growth of fibrous tissue, such as scar tissue, mostly in the skin or lungs.
• Adenoma — a growth in a gland or glandular tissue, often in the thyroid or colon. It may be called a nodule (such as a thyroid nodule) or a polyp (such as an adenomatous polyp in the colon or rectum).
• Hemangioma — a cluster of blood vessels that forms a red or purple lump, often on the skin.
• Meningioma — a growth in the layers that cover the brain and spinal cord. It is often removed because it can press on the brain or spinal cord.

Malignant tumors

A malignant tumor is cancer. It tends to grow fast, can grow into nearby tissue, can spread to other parts of the body, and is serious and often life-threatening. Tests find the exact type of cancer cell and the stage. How serious a malignant tumor is depends on the type of cancer cell, where it is, how big it is, whether it has spread, and how it affects the person's health. All cancers are malignant neoplasms — both blood cancers (leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma, which do not always form tumors) and solid tumors (most commonly breast, prostate, lung and colorectal cancers).

Does a Tumor Need to Be Removed?

That depends on its size, place, type, and whether it is benign or malignant. A benign tumor may be removed, or it may be left alone and checked again over time to see whether it changes. With a cancer, doctors try to remove all of it. Sometimes all of it can be removed with surgery, sometimes only part of it, and sometimes none of it — the cancer is then called inoperable. A tumor may not be removed if it is very large, hard to reach, next to important organs, blood vessels or nerves that surgery could damage, has its own blood supply that could bleed heavily, is a very aggressive cancer or has already spread, or if another treatment would work better.

Questions to Ask Your Doctor

• Is my tumor benign or malignant, and how do you know?
• What type of tumor is it, and what kind of cells is it made of?
• Does this tumor need to be removed, or can we watch it and check it again later?
• If it cannot be completely removed, what are the other treatment options?
• What changes in the lump, or new symptoms, should make me call you before my next visit?

Source: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/understanding-cancer/what-is-cancer/neoplasms-and-tumors.html