Monday, January 31, 2011

Cancer - Classification

Cancers are classified by the type of cell that the tumor resembles and is therefore presumed to be the origin of the tumor. These types include:

  • CARCINOMA Cancer derived from epithelial cells. This group includes many of the most common cancers, including those of the breast, prostate,lung, and colon .
  • STARCOMA Cancer derived from connective tissue or mesenchymal cells.
  • LYMPHOMA and LEUKEMIA : Cancer derived from hematopoietic ( blood -forming) cells
  • GERM CELL TUMOR: Cancer derived from pluripotent cells. In adults these are most often found in the testicle and ovary , but are more common in babies and young children.
  • BLASTOMA: Cancer derived from immature "precursor" or embryonic tissue. These are also commonest in children.

Cancers are usually named using -carcinoma, -sarcoma or -blastoma as a suffix, with the Latin or Greek word for the organ or tissue of origin as the root. For example, a cancer of the liver is called hepatocarcinoma ; a cancer of fat cells is called a liposarcoma . For some common cancers, the English organ name is used. For example, the most common type of BREAST CANCER is called ductal carcinoma of the breast . Here, the adjective ductal refers to the appearance of the cancer under the microscope, which suggests that it has originated in the milk ducts.

BENIGN TUMORS(which are not cancers) are named using -oma as a suffix with the organ name as the root. For example, a benign tumor of smooth muscle cells is called a leiomyoma (the common name of this frequently occurring benign tumor in the uterus is FIBROID). Confusingly, some types of cancer also use the -oma suffix, examples including melanoma and seminoma

Brought to you by http://successgain.us and http://successgain.info

No comments:

Post a Comment