tumour

views updated

tumour Any abnormal growth in or on the body, arising from some particular tissue or cell type. A tumour may be harmless (benign), remaining at its site of origin and becoming a problem only cosmetically or by its size; or cancerous (malignant), invading surrounding tissues, and seeding elsewhere (metastasizing) via the lymphatic or blood vessels. The technical term for a tumour of whatever varity is ‘neoplasm’.

Stuart Judge


See cancer.

More From encyclopedia.com