neoplasm

{{-plasia}}

A neoplasm can be benign, potentially malignant, or malignant (cancer).{{cite web |url=http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih1/cancer/other/glossary/act1-gloss4.htm |title=Cancer – Activity 1 – Glossary, page 4 of 5 |access-date=2008-01-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509064024/http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih1/cancer/other/glossary/act1-gloss4.htm |archive-date=2008-05-09 }}

• Benign tumors include uterine fibroids, osteophytes, and melanocytic nevi (skin moles). They are circumscribed and localized and do not transform into cancer.
• Potentially-malignant neoplasms include carcinoma in situ. They are localised, and do not invade and destroy but in time, may transform into cancer.
• Malignant neoplasms are commonly called cancer. They invade and destroy the surrounding tissue, may form metastases and, if untreated or unresponsive to treatment, will generally prove fatal.
• Secondary neoplasm refers to any of a class of cancerous tumor that is either a metastatic offshoot of a primary tumor, or an apparently unrelated tumor that increases in frequency following certain cancer treatments such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
• Rarely there can be a metastatic neoplasm with no known site of the primary cancer and this is classed as a cancer of unknown primary origin.

Neoplastic tumors are often heterogeneous and contain more than one type of cell, but their initiation and continued growth are usually dependent on a single population of neoplastic cells. These cells are presumed to be monoclonal – that is, they are derived from the same cell,{{Cite web|url=http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=2754|title=Medical Definition of Clone|access-date=2015-02-10|archive-date=2012-10-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025074001/http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=2754|url-status=dead}} and all carry the same genetic or epigenetic anomaly – evident of clonality. For lymphoid neoplasms, e.g. lymphoma and leukemia, clonality is proven by the amplification of a single rearrangement of their immunoglobulin gene (for B cell lesions) or T cell receptor gene (for T cell lesions). The demonstration of clonality is now considered to be necessary to identify a lymphoid cell proliferation as neoplastic.{{cite journal |vauthors=Lee ES, Locker J, Nalesnik M, Reyes J, Jaffe R, Alashari M, Nour B, Tzakis A, Dickman PS | title = The association of Epstein-Barr virus with smooth-muscle tumors occurring after organ transplantation | journal = N. Engl. J. Med. | volume = 332 | issue = 1 | pages = 19–25 |date=January 1995 | pmid = 7990861 | doi = 10.1056/NEJM199501053320104 | doi-access = free }}

The word tumor or tumour comes from the Latin word for swelling, which is one of the cardinal signs of inflammation. The word originally referred to any form of swelling, neoplastic or not. In modern English, tumor (non-US spelling: tumour) is used as a synonym for a neoplasm (a solid or fluid-filled cystic lesion that may or may not be formed by an abnormal growth of neoplastic cells) that appears enlarged in size.{{cite web |url=http://pathology.jhu.edu/pancreas/slides/glossary.html |title=Pancreas Cancer: Glossary of Terms |access-date=2008-01-08 |archive-date=2010-06-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100605173602/http://pathology.jhu.edu/pancreas/slides/glossary.html |url-status=dead }}{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary |title=Tumor |edition=31st|year=2007 |publisher=Saunders |isbn=978-1-84972-348-0}} Some neoplasms do not form a tumor; these include leukemia and most forms of carcinoma in situ. Tumor is also not synonymous with cancer. While cancer is by definition malignant, a tumor can be benign, precancerous, or malignant.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

The terms mass and nodule are often used synonymously with tumor. Generally speaking, however, the term tumor is used generically, without reference to the physical size of the lesion. More specifically, the term mass is often used when the lesion has a maximal diameter of at least 20 millimeters (mm) in the greatest direction, while the term nodule is usually used when the size of the lesion is less than 20 mm in its greatest dimension (25.4 mm = 1 inch).

Image:Hidradenoma.jpg of the sweat glands called hidradenoma, which is not solid but is fluid-filled]]

Image:Fibroids.jpg of the uterus]]

Tumors in humans occur as a result of accumulated genetic and epigenetic alterations within single cells, which cause the cell to divide and expand uncontrollably.{{cite journal|doi=10.1146/annurev-cancerbio-030419-033413|doi-access=free|title=Investigating Tumor Heterogeneity in Mouse Models|year=2020|last1=Tammela|first1=Tuomas|last2=Sage|first2=Julien|journal=Annual Review of Cancer Biology|volume=4|issue=1|pages=99–119|pmid=34164589|pmc=8218894}} A neoplasm can be caused by an abnormal proliferation of tissues, which can be caused by genetic mutations. Not all types of neoplasms cause a tumorous overgrowth of tissue (such as leukemia or carcinoma in situ), however similarities between neoplasmic growths and regenerative processes, e.g., dedifferentiation and rapid cell proliferation, have been pointed out.{{cite journal | vauthors = Asashima M, Oinuma T, Meyer-Rochow VB|title=Tumors in amphibia|journal=Zoological Science|date=1987|volume=4|pages=411–425}}

Tumor growth has been studied using mathematics and continuum mechanics. Vascular tumors such as hemangiomas and lymphangiomas (formed from blood or lymph vessels) are thus looked at as being amalgams of a solid skeleton formed by sticky cells and an organic liquid filling the spaces in which cells can grow.{{cite journal |vauthors=Ambrosi D, Mollica F |title=On the mechanics of a growing tumor | year = 2002 | journal = International Journal of Engineering Science | volume = 40 | issue = 12 | pages = 1297–316 | doi = 10.1016/S0020-7225(02)00014-9 }} Under this type of model, mechanical stresses and strains can be dealt with and their influence on the growth of the tumor and the surrounding tissue and vasculature elucidated. Recent findings from experiments that use this model show that active growth of the tumor is restricted to the outer edges of the tumor and that stiffening of the underlying normal tissue inhibits tumor growth as well.{{cite journal | author = Volokh KY | title = Stresses in growing soft tissues | journal = Acta Biomater | volume = 2 | issue = 5 | pages = 493–504 |date=September 2006 | pmid = 16793355 | doi = 10.1016/j.actbio.2006.04.002 }}

Benign conditions that are not associated with an abnormal proliferation of tissue (such as sebaceous cysts) can also present as tumors, however, but have no malignant potential. Breast cysts (as occur commonly during pregnancy and at other times) are another example, as are other encapsulated glandular swellings (thyroid, adrenal gland, pancreas).{{cn|date=May 2023}}

Encapsulated hematomas, encapsulated necrotic tissue (from an insect bite, foreign body, or other noxious mechanism), keloids (discrete overgrowths of scar tissue) and granulomas may also present as tumors.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

Discrete localized enlargements of normal structures (ureters, blood vessels, intrahepatic or extrahepatic biliary ducts, pulmonary inclusions, or gastrointestinal duplications) due to outflow obstructions or narrowings, or abnormal connections, may also present as a tumor. Examples are arteriovenous fistulae or aneurysms (with or without thrombosis), biliary fistulae or aneurysms, sclerosing cholangitis, cysticercosis or hydatid cysts, intestinal duplications, and pulmonary inclusions as seen with cystic fibrosis. It can be dangerous to biopsy a number of types of tumor in which the leakage of their contents would potentially be catastrophic. When such types of tumors are encountered, diagnostic modalities such as ultrasound, CT scans, MRI, angiograms, and nuclear medicine scans are employed prior to (or during) biopsy or surgical exploration/excision in an attempt to avoid such severe complications.{{cn|date=January 2022}}

File:Diagram Damage to Cancer Wiki 300dpi.svg genes in malignant neoplasms]]

DNA damage is considered to be the primary underlying cause of malignant neoplasms known as cancers.{{cite journal |vauthors=Kastan MB |title=DNA damage responses: mechanisms and roles in human disease: 2007 G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award Lecture |journal=Mol. Cancer Res. |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=517–24 |year=2008 |pmid=18403632 |doi=10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-08-0020 |doi-access=free }} Its central role in progression to cancer is illustrated in the figure in this section, in the box near the top. (The central features of DNA damage, epigenetic alterations and deficient DNA repair in progression to cancer are shown in red.) DNA damage is very common. Naturally occurring DNA damages (mostly due to cellular metabolism and the properties of DNA in water at body temperatures) occur at a rate of more than 10,000 new damages, on average, per human cell, per day.{{cite journal |vauthors=Ames BN, Shigenaga MK, Hagen TM |title=Oxidants, antioxidants, and the degenerative diseases of aging |journal=Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A |volume=90 |issue=17 |pages=7915–22 |date=September 1993 |pmid=8367443 |pmc=47258 |doi=10.1073/pnas.90.17.7915 |doi-access=free |bibcode=1993PNAS...90.7915A }} Additional DNA damages can arise from exposure to exogenous agents. Tobacco smoke causes increased exogenous DNA damage, and these DNA damages are the likely cause of lung cancer due to smoking.{{cite journal |vauthors=Cunningham FH, Fiebelkorn S, Johnson M, Meredith C | title = A novel application of the Margin of Exposure approach: segregation of tobacco smoke toxicants | journal = Food Chem. Toxicol. | volume = 49 | issue = 11 | pages = 2921–33 |date=November 2011 | pmid = 21802474 | doi = 10.1016/j.fct.2011.07.019 }} UV light from solar radiation causes DNA damage that is important in melanoma.{{cite journal |vauthors=Kanavy HE, Gerstenblith MR | title = Ultraviolet radiation and melanoma | journal = Semin Cutan Med Surg | volume = 30 | issue = 4 | pages = 222–8 |date=December 2011 | pmid = 22123420 | doi = 10.1016/j.sder.2011.08.003 | doi-broken-date = 1 November 2024 }} Helicobacter pylori infection produces high levels of reactive oxygen species that damage DNA and contributes to gastric cancer.{{cite journal |vauthors=Handa O, Naito Y, Yoshikawa T | title = Redox biology and gastric carcinogenesis: the role of Helicobacter pylori | journal = Redox Rep. | volume = 16 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–7 | year = 2011 | pmid = 21605492 | doi = 10.1179/174329211X12968219310756 | pmc = 6837368 | doi-access = free }} Bile acids, at high levels in the colons of humans eating a high fat diet, also cause DNA damage and contribute to colon cancer.{{cite journal |vauthors=Bernstein C, Holubec H, Bhattacharyya AK, Nguyen H, Payne CM, Zaitlin B, Bernstein H | title = Carcinogenicity of deoxycholate, a secondary bile acid | journal = Arch. Toxicol. | volume = 85 | issue = 8 | pages = 863–71 |date=August 2011 | pmid = 21267546 | pmc = 3149672 | doi = 10.1007/s00204-011-0648-7 | bibcode = 2011ArTox..85..863B }} Katsurano et al. indicated that macrophages and neutrophils in an inflamed colonic epithelium are the source of reactive oxygen species causing the DNA damages that initiate colonic tumorigenesis (creation of tumors in the colon).{{cite journal |vauthors=Katsurano M, Niwa T, Yasui Y, Shigematsu Y, Yamashita S, Takeshima H, Lee MS, Kim YJ, Tanaka T, Ushijima T | title = Early-stage formation of an epigenetic field defect in a mouse colitis model, and non-essential roles of T- and B-cells in DNA methylation induction | journal = Oncogene | volume = 31 | issue = 3 | pages = 342–51 |date=January 2012 | pmid = 21685942 | doi = 10.1038/onc.2011.241 | doi-access = free }}{{Unreliable source?|date=August 2019|reason=one study in mice}} Some sources of DNA damage are indicated in the boxes at the top of the figure in this section.{{Clarify|date=October 2023}}

Individuals with a germline mutation causing deficiency in any of 34 DNA repair genes (see article DNA repair-deficiency disorder) are at increased risk of cancer. Some germline mutations in DNA repair genes cause up to 100% lifetime chance of cancer (e.g., p53 mutations).{{cite journal | author = Malkin D | title = Li-fraumeni syndrome | journal = Genes Cancer | volume = 2 | issue = 4 | pages = 475–84 |date=April 2011 | pmid = 21779515 | pmc = 3135649 | doi = 10.1177/1947601911413466 }} These germline mutations are indicated in a box at the left of the figure with an arrow indicating their contribution to DNA repair deficiency.

About 70% of malignant (cancerous) neoplasms have no hereditary component and are called "sporadic cancers".{{cite journal |vauthors=Lichtenstein P, Holm NV, Verkasalo PK, Iliadou A, Kaprio J, Koskenvuo M, Pukkala E, Skytthe A, Hemminki K | title = Environmental and heritable factors in the causation of cancer—analyses of cohorts of twins from Sweden, Denmark, and Finland | journal = N. Engl. J. Med. | volume = 343 | issue = 2 | pages = 78–85 |date=July 2000 | pmid = 10891514 | doi = 10.1056/NEJM200007133430201 | doi-access =free }} Only a minority of sporadic cancers have a deficiency in DNA repair due to mutation in a DNA repair gene. However, a majority of sporadic cancers have deficiency in DNA repair due to epigenetic alterations that reduce or silence DNA repair gene expression. For example, of 113 sequential colorectal cancers, only four had a missense mutation in the DNA repair gene MGMT, while the majority had reduced MGMT expression due to methylation of the MGMT promoter region (an epigenetic alteration).{{cite journal |vauthors=Halford S, Rowan A, Sawyer E, Talbot I, Tomlinson I | title = O(6)-methylguanine methyltransferase in colorectal cancers: detection of mutations, loss of expression, and weak association with G:C>A:T transitions | journal = Gut | volume = 54 | issue = 6 | pages = 797–802 |date=June 2005 | pmid = 15888787 | pmc = 1774551 | doi = 10.1136/gut.2004.059535 }} Five reports present evidence that between 40% and 90% of colorectal cancers have reduced MGMT expression due to methylation of the MGMT promoter region.{{cite journal |vauthors=Shen L, Kondo Y, Rosner GL, Xiao L, Hernandez NS, Vilaythong J, Houlihan PS, Krouse RS, Prasad AR, Einspahr JG, Buckmeier J, Alberts DS, Hamilton SR, Issa JP | title = MGMT promoter methylation and field defect in sporadic colorectal cancer | journal = J. Natl. Cancer Inst. | volume = 97 | issue = 18 | pages = 1330–8 |date=September 2005 | pmid = 16174854 | doi = 10.1093/jnci/dji275 | doi-access = free }}{{cite journal |vauthors=Psofaki V, Kalogera C, Tzambouras N, Stephanou D, Tsianos E, Seferiadis K, Kolios G | title = Promoter methylation status of hMLH1, MGMT, and CDKN2A/p16 in colorectal adenomas | journal = World J. Gastroenterol. | volume = 16 | issue = 28 | pages = 3553–60 |date=July 2010 | pmid = 20653064 | pmc = 2909555 | doi = 10.3748/wjg.v16.i28.3553 | doi-access = free }}{{cite journal |vauthors=Lee KH, Lee JS, Nam JH, Choi C, Lee MC, Park CS, Juhng SW, Lee JH | title = Promoter methylation status of hMLH1, hMSH2, and MGMT genes in colorectal cancer associated with adenoma-carcinoma sequence | journal = Langenbecks Arch Surg | volume = 396 | issue = 7 | pages = 1017–26 |date=October 2011 | pmid = 21706233 | doi = 10.1007/s00423-011-0812-9 | s2cid = 8069716 }}{{cite journal |vauthors=Amatu A, Sartore-Bianchi A, Moutinho C, Belotti A, Bencardino K, Chirico G, Cassingena A, Rusconi F, Esposito A, Nichelatti M, Esteller M, Siena S | title = Promoter CpG island hypermethylation of the DNA repair enzyme MGMT predicts clinical response to dacarbazine in a phase II study for metastatic colorectal cancer | journal = Clin. Cancer Res. | volume = 19 | issue = 8 | pages = 2265–72 |date=April 2013 | pmid = 23422094 | doi = 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-12-3518 | doi-access = free }}{{cite journal |vauthors=Mokarram P, Zamani M, Kavousipour S, Naghibalhossaini F, Irajie C, Moradi Sarabi M, Hosseini SV |display-authors = 6| title = Different patterns of DNA methylation of the two distinct O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (O6-MGMT) promoter regions in colorectal cancer | journal = Mol. Biol. Rep. | volume = 40 | issue = 5 | pages = 3851–7 |date=May 2013 | pmid = 23271133 | doi = 10.1007/s11033-012-2465-3 |s2cid = 18733871}}

Similarly, out of 119 cases of mismatch repair-deficient colorectal cancers that lacked DNA repair gene PMS2 expression, PMS2 was deficient in 6 due to mutations in the PMS2 gene, while in 103 cases PMS2 expression was deficient because its pairing partner MLH1 was repressed due to promoter methylation (PMS2 protein is unstable in the absence of MLH1).{{cite journal |vauthors=Truninger K, Menigatti M, Luz J, Russell A, Haider R, Gebbers JO, Bannwart F, Yurtsever H, Neuweiler J, Riehle HM, Cattaruzza MS, Heinimann K, Schär P, Jiricny J, Marra G |display-authors = 6| title = Immunohistochemical analysis reveals high frequency of PMS2 defects in colorectal cancer | journal = Gastroenterology | volume = 128 | issue = 5 | pages = 1160–71 |date=May 2005 | pmid = 15887099 | doi = 10.1053/j.gastro.2005.01.056 | doi-access = free }} In the other 10 cases, loss of PMS2 expression was likely due to epigenetic overexpression of the microRNA, miR-155, which down-regulates MLH1.{{cite journal |vauthors=Valeri N, Gasparini P, Fabbri M, Braconi C, Veronese A, Lovat F, Adair B, Vannini I, Fanini F, Bottoni A, Costinean S, Sandhu SK, Nuovo GJ, Alder H, Gafa R, Calore F, Ferracin M, Lanza G, Volinia S, Negrini M, McIlhatton MA, Amadori D, Fishel R, Croce CM |display-authors = 6| title = Modulation of mismatch repair and genomic stability by miR-155 | journal = Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. | volume = 107 | issue = 15 | pages = 6982–7 |date=April 2010 | pmid = 20351277 | pmc = 2872463 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.1002472107 |bibcode = 2010PNAS..107.6982V|doi-access = free}}

In further examples, epigenetic defects were found at frequencies of between 13%-100% for the DNA repair genes BRCA1, WRN, FANCB, FANCF, MGMT, MLH1, MSH2, MSH4, ERCC1, XPF, NEIL1 and ATM. These epigenetic defects occurred in various cancers, including breast, ovarian, colorectal, and head and neck cancers. Two or three deficiencies in expression of ERCC1, XPF or PMS2 occur simultaneously in the majority of the 49 colon cancers evaluated by Facista et al.{{cite journal |vauthors=Facista A, Nguyen H, Lewis C, Prasad AR, Ramsey L, Zaitlin B, Nfonsam V, Krouse RS, Bernstein H, Payne CM, Stern S, Oatman N, Banerjee B, Bernstein C |display-authors = 6| title = Deficient expression of DNA repair enzymes in early progression to sporadic colon cancer | journal = Genome Integr | volume = 3 | issue = 1 | pages = 3 | year = 2012 | pmid = 22494821 | pmc = 3351028 | doi = 10.1186/2041-9414-3-3 |doi-access = free}} Epigenetic alterations causing reduced expression of DNA repair genes is shown in a central box at the third level from the top of the figure in this section, and the consequent DNA repair deficiency is shown at the fourth level.

When expression of DNA repair genes is reduced, DNA damages accumulate in cells at a higher than normal level, and these excess damages cause increased frequencies of mutation or epimutation. Mutation rates strongly increase in cells defective in DNA mismatch repair{{cite journal |vauthors=Narayanan L, Fritzell JA, Baker SM, Liskay RM, Glazer PM | title = Elevated levels of mutation in multiple tissues of mice deficient in the DNA mismatch repair gene Pms2 | journal = Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. | volume = 94 | issue = 7 | pages = 3122–7 |date=April 1997 | pmid = 9096356 | pmc = 20332 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.94.7.3122 | bibcode = 1997PNAS...94.3122N | doi-access = free }}{{cite journal |vauthors=Hegan DC, Narayanan L, Jirik FR, Edelmann W, Liskay RM, Glazer PM | title = Differing patterns of genetic instability in mice deficient in the mismatch repair genes Pms2, Mlh1, Msh2, Msh3 and Msh6 | journal = Carcinogenesis | volume = 27 | issue = 12 | pages = 2402–8 |date=December 2006 | pmid = 16728433 | pmc = 2612936 | doi = 10.1093/carcin/bgl079 }} or in homologous recombinational repair (HRR).{{cite journal |vauthors=Tutt AN, van Oostrom CT, Ross GM, van Steeg H, Ashworth A | title = Disruption of Brca2 increases the spontaneous mutation rate in vivo: synergism with ionizing radiation | journal = EMBO Rep. | volume = 3 | issue = 3 | pages = 255–60 |date=March 2002 | pmid = 11850397 | pmc = 1084010 | doi = 10.1093/embo-reports/kvf037 }}

During repair of DNA double strand breaks, or repair of other DNA damages, incompletely cleared sites of repair can cause epigenetic gene silencing.{{cite journal | vauthors = O'Hagan HM, Mohammad HP, Baylin SB | title = Double strand breaks can initiate gene silencing and SIRT1-dependent onset of DNA methylation in an exogenous promoter CpG island | journal = PLOS Genet. | volume = 4 | issue = 8 | pages = e1000155 | year = 2008 | pmid = 18704159 | pmc = 2491723 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pgen.1000155 | editor1-last = Lee | editor1-first = Jeannie T | doi-access = free }}{{cite journal |vauthors=Cuozzo C, Porcellini A, Angrisano T, Morano A, Lee B, Di Pardo A, Messina S, Iuliano R, Fusco A, Santillo MR, Muller MT, Chiariotti L, Gottesman ME, Avvedimento EV | title = DNA damage, homology-directed repair, and DNA methylation | journal = PLOS Genet. | volume = 3 | issue = 7 | pages = e110 |date=July 2007 | pmid = 17616978 | pmc = 1913100 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pgen.0030110 | doi-access = free }} DNA repair deficiencies (level 4 in the figure) cause increased DNA damages (level 5 in the figure) which result in increased somatic mutations and epigenetic alterations (level 6 in the figure).

Field defects, normal-appearing tissue with multiple alterations (and discussed in the section below), are common precursors to development of the disordered and improperly proliferating clone of tissue in a malignant neoplasm. Such field defects (second level from bottom of figure) may have multiple mutations and epigenetic alterations.

Once a cancer is formed, it usually has genome instability. This instability is likely due to reduced DNA repair or excessive DNA damage. Because of such instability, the cancer continues to evolve and to produce sub clones. For example, a renal cancer, sampled in 9 areas, had 40 ubiquitous mutations, demonstrating tumor heterogeneity (i.e. present in all areas of the cancer), 59 mutations shared by some (but not all areas), and 29 "private" mutations only present in one of the areas of the cancer.{{cite journal |vauthors=Gerlinger M, Rowan AJ, Horswell S, Larkin J, Endesfelder D, Gronroos E, Martinez P, Matthews N, Stewart A, Tarpey P, Varela I, Phillimore B, Begum S, McDonald NQ, Butler A, Jones D, Raine K, Latimer C, Santos CR, Nohadani M, Eklund AC, Spencer-Dene B, Clark G, Pickering L, Stamp G, Gore M, Szallasi Z, Downward J, Futreal PA, Swanton C |display-authors = 6| title = Intratumor heterogeneity and branched evolution revealed by multiregion sequencing | journal = N. Engl. J. Med. | volume = 366 | issue = 10 | pages = 883–92 |date=March 2012 | pmid = 22397650 | doi = 10.1056/NEJMoa1113205 | pmc=4878653}}

File:Image of resected colon segment with cancer & 4 nearby polyps plus schematic of field defects with sub-clones.jpg

Various other terms have been used to describe this phenomenon, including "field effect", "field cancerization", and "field carcinogenesis". The term "field cancerization" was first used in 1953 to describe an area or "field" of epithelium that has been preconditioned by (at that time) largely unknown processes so as to predispose it towards development of cancer.{{cite journal |vauthors=Slaughter DP, Southwick HW, Smejkal W | title = Field cancerization in oral stratified squamous epithelium; clinical implications of multicentric origin | journal = Cancer | volume = 6 | issue = 5 | pages = 963–8 |date=September 1953 | pmid = 13094644 | doi = 10.1002/1097-0142(195309)6:5<963::AID-CNCR2820060515>3.0.CO;2-Q | s2cid = 6736946 | doi-access = free }} Since then, the terms "field cancerization" and "field defect" have been used to describe pre-malignant tissue in which new cancers are likely to arise.{{cn|date=January 2022}}

Field defects are important in progression to cancer.{{cite journal |vauthors=Bernstein C, Bernstein H, Payne CM, Dvorak K, Garewal H | title = Field defects in progression to gastrointestinal tract cancers | journal = Cancer Lett. | volume = 260 | issue = 1–2 | pages = 1–10 |date=February 2008 | pmid = 18164807 | pmc = 2744582 | doi = 10.1016/j.canlet.2007.11.027 }}{{cite journal |vauthors=Nguyen H, Loustaunau C, Facista A, Ramsey L, Hassounah N, Taylor H, Krouse R, Payne CM, Tsikitis VL, Goldschmid S, Banerjee B, Perini RF, Bernstein C | title = Deficient Pms2, ERCC1, Ku86, CcOI in field defects during progression to colon cancer | journal = J Vis Exp | issue = 41 | pages = 1931| year = 2010 | pmid = 20689513 | pmc = 3149991 | doi = 10.3791/1931 }} However, in most cancer research, as pointed out by Rubin{{cite journal | author = Rubin H | title = Fields and field cancerization: the preneoplastic origins of cancer: asymptomatic hyperplastic fields are precursors of neoplasia, and their progression to tumors can be tracked by saturation density in culture | journal = BioEssays | volume = 33 | issue = 3 | pages = 224–31 |date=March 2011 | pmid = 21254148 | doi = 10.1002/bies.201000067 | s2cid = 44981539 }} "The vast majority of studies in cancer research has been done on well-defined tumors in vivo, or on discrete neoplastic foci in vitro. Yet there is evidence that more than 80% of the somatic mutations found in mutator phenotype human colorectal tumors occur before the onset of terminal clonal expansion.{{cite journal |vauthors=Tsao JL, Yatabe Y, Salovaara R, Järvinen HJ, Mecklin JP, Aaltonen LA, Tavaré S, Shibata D | title = Genetic reconstruction of individual colorectal tumor histories | journal = Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. | volume = 97 | issue = 3 | pages = 1236–41 |date=February 2000 | pmid = 10655514 | pmc = 15581 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.97.3.1236 | bibcode = 2000PNAS...97.1236T | doi-access = free }} Similarly, Vogelstein et al.{{cite journal |vauthors=Vogelstein B, Papadopoulos N, Velculescu VE, Zhou S, Diaz LA, Kinzler KW | title = Cancer genome landscapes | journal = Science | volume = 339 | issue = 6127 | pages = 1546–58 |date=March 2013 | pmid = 23539594 | pmc = 3749880 | doi = 10.1126/science.1235122 | bibcode = 2013Sci...339.1546V }} point out that more than half of somatic mutations identified in tumors occurred in a pre-neoplastic phase (in a field defect), during growth of apparently normal cells. Likewise, epigenetic alterations present in tumors may have occurred in pre-neoplastic field defects.{{cn|date=January 2022}}

An expanded view of field effect has been termed "etiologic field effect", which encompasses not only molecular and pathologic changes in pre-neoplastic cells but also influences of exogenous environmental factors and molecular changes in the local microenvironment on neoplastic evolution from tumor initiation to patient death.{{cite journal |vauthors=Lochhead P, Chan AT, Nishihara R, Fuchs CS, Beck AH, Giovannucci E, Ogino S | year = 2014 | title = Etiologic field effect: reappraisal of the field effect concept in cancer predisposition and progression | journal = Mod Pathol | volume = 28| issue = 1| pages = 14–29| doi = 10.1038/modpathol.2014.81 | pmid=24925058 | pmc=4265316}}

In the colon, a field defect probably arises by natural selection of a mutant or epigenetically altered cell among the stem cells at the base of one of the intestinal crypts on the inside surface of the colon. A mutant or epigenetically altered stem cell may replace the other nearby stem cells by natural selection. Thus, a patch of abnormal tissue may arise. The figure in this section includes a photo of a freshly resected and lengthwise-opened segment of the colon showing a colon cancer and four polyps. Below the photo, there is a schematic diagram of how a large patch of mutant or epigenetically altered cells may have formed, shown by the large area in yellow in the diagram. Within this first large patch in the diagram (a large clone of cells), a second such mutation or epigenetic alteration may occur so that a given stem cell acquires an advantage compared to other stem cells within the patch, and this altered stem cell may expand clonally forming a secondary patch, or sub-clone, within the original patch. This is indicated in the diagram by four smaller patches of different colors within the large yellow original area. Within these new patches (sub-clones), the process may be repeated multiple times, indicated by the still smaller patches within the four secondary patches (with still different colors in the diagram) which clonally expand, until stem cells arise that generate either small polyps or else a malignant neoplasm (cancer).{{cn|date=January 2022}}

In the photo, an apparent field defect in this segment of a colon has generated four polyps (labeled with the size of the polyps, 6mm, 5mm, and two of 3mm, and a cancer about 3 cm across in its longest dimension). These neoplasms are also indicated, in the diagram below the photo, by 4 small tan circles (polyps) and a larger red area (cancer). The cancer in the photo occurred in the cecal area of the colon, where the colon joins the small intestine (labeled) and where the appendix occurs (labeled). The fat in the photo is external to the outer wall of the colon. In the segment of colon shown here, the colon was cut open lengthwise to expose the inner surface of the colon and to display the cancer and polyps occurring within the inner epithelial lining of the colon.{{cn|date=January 2022}}

If the general process by which sporadic colon cancers arise is the formation of a pre-neoplastic clone that spreads by natural selection, followed by formation of internal sub-clones within the initial clone, and sub-sub-clones inside those, then colon cancers generally should be associated with, and be preceded by, fields of increasing abnormality reflecting the succession of premalignant events. The most extensive region of abnormality (the outermost yellow irregular area in the diagram) would reflect the earliest event in formation of a malignant neoplasm.{{cn|date=January 2022}}

In experimental evaluation of specific DNA repair deficiencies in cancers, many specific DNA repair deficiencies were also shown to occur in the field defects surrounding those cancers. The Table, below, gives examples for which the DNA repair deficiency in a cancer was shown to be caused by an epigenetic alteration, and the somewhat lower frequencies with which the same epigenetically caused DNA repair deficiency was found in the surrounding field defect.

Some of the small polyps in the field defect shown in the photo of the opened colon segment may be relatively benign neoplasms. Of polyps less than 10mm in size, found during colonoscopy and followed with repeat colonoscopies for 3 years, 25% were unchanged in size, 35% regressed or shrank in size while 40% grew in size.{{cite journal |vauthors=Hofstad B, Vatn MH, Andersen SN, Huitfeldt HS, Rognum T, Larsen S, Osnes M | title = Growth of colorectal polyps: redetection and evaluation of unresected polyps for a period of three years | journal = Gut | volume = 39 | issue = 3 | pages = 449–56 |date=September 1996 | pmid = 8949653 | pmc = 1383355 | doi = 10.1136/gut.39.3.449 }}

Cancers are known to exhibit genome instability or a mutator phenotype.{{cite journal |vauthors=Schmitt MW, Prindle MJ, Loeb LA | title = Implications of genetic heterogeneity in cancer | journal = Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. | volume = 1267 | issue = 1| pages = 110–6 |date=September 2012 | pmid = 22954224 | pmc = 3674777 | doi = 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2012.06590.x | bibcode = 2012NYASA1267..110S }} The protein-coding DNA within the nucleus is about 1.5% of the total genomic DNA.{{cite journal | vauthors = Lander ES, Linton LM, Birren B, Nusbaum C, Zody MC, Baldwin J, Devon K, Dewar K, Doyle M, FitzHugh W | title = Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome | journal = Nature | volume = 409 | issue = 6822 | pages = 860–921 | date = February 2001 | pmid = 11237011 | doi = 10.1038/35057062 | bibcode = 2001Natur.409..860L | display-authors = etal | url = https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62798/1/409860a0.pdf | doi-access = free | access-date = 2019-09-02 | archive-date = 2020-07-29 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200729030748/https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/62798/409860a0.pdf;jsessionid=C72311E1AB91A832789410D56B35F9F1?sequence=1 | url-status = live }} Within this protein-coding DNA (called the exome), an average cancer of the breast or colon can have about 60 to 70 protein altering mutations, of which about 3 or 4 may be "driver" mutations, and the remaining ones may be "passenger" mutations. However, the average number of DNA sequence mutations in the entire genome (including non-protein-coding regions) within a breast cancer tissue sample is about 20,000.{{cite journal |vauthors=Yost SE, Smith EN, Schwab RB, Bao L, Jung H, Wang X, Voest E, Pierce JP, Messer K, Parker BA, Harismendy O, Frazer KA | title = Identification of high-confidence somatic mutations in whole genome sequence of formalin-fixed breast cancer specimens | journal = Nucleic Acids Res. | volume = 40 | issue = 14 | pages = e107 |date=August 2012 | pmid = 22492626 | pmc = 3413110 | doi = 10.1093/nar/gks299 }} In an average melanoma tissue sample (where melanomas have a higher exome mutation frequency) the total number of DNA sequence mutations is about 80,000.{{cite journal |vauthors=Berger MF, Hodis E, Heffernan TP, Deribe YL, Lawrence MS, Protopopov A, Ivanova E, Watson IR, Nickerson E, Ghosh P, Zhang H, Zeid R, Ren X, Cibulskis K, Sivachenko AY, Wagle N, Sucker A, Sougnez C, Onofrio R, Ambrogio L, Auclair D, Fennell T, Carter SL, Drier Y, Stojanov P, Singer MA, Voet D, Jing R, Saksena G, Barretina J, Ramos AH, Pugh TJ, Stransky N, Parkin M, Winckler W, Mahan S, Ardlie K, Baldwin J, Wargo J, Schadendorf D, Meyerson M, Gabriel SB, Golub TR, Wagner SN, Lander ES, Getz G, Chin L, Garraway LA|display-authors = 6 | title = Melanoma genome sequencing reveals frequent PREX2 mutations | journal = Nature | volume = 485 | issue = 7399 | pages = 502–6 |date=May 2012 | pmid = 22622578 | pmc = 3367798 | doi = 10.1038/nature11071 |bibcode = 2012Natur.485..502B }} This compares to the very low mutation frequency of about 70 new mutations in the entire genome between generations (parent to child) in humans.{{cite journal | vauthors = Roach JC, Glusman G, Smit AF, Huff CD, Hubley R, Shannon PT, Rowen L, Pant KP, Goodman N, Bamshad M, Shendure J, Drmanac R, Jorde LB, Hood L, Galas DJ|display-authors = 6| title = Analysis of genetic inheritance in a family quartet by whole-genome sequencing | journal = Science | volume = 328 | issue = 5978 | pages = 636–9 | date = April 2010 | pmid = 20220176 | pmc = 3037280 | doi = 10.1126/science.1186802 |bibcode = 2010Sci...328..636R}}{{cite journal | vauthors = Campbell CD, Chong JX, Malig M, Ko A, Dumont BL, Han L, Vives L, O'Roak BJ, Sudmant PH, Shendure J, Abney M, Ober C, Eichler EE |display-authors = 6| title = Estimating the human mutation rate using autozygosity in a founder population | journal = Nat. Genet. | volume = 44 | issue = 11 | pages = 1277–81 | date = November 2012 | pmid = 23001126 | pmc = 3483378 | doi = 10.1038/ng.2418 }}

The high frequencies of mutations in the total nucleotide sequences within cancers suggest that often an early alteration in the field defects giving rise to a cancer (e.g. yellow area in the diagram in this section) is a deficiency in DNA repair. The large field defects surrounding colon cancers (extending to at about 10 cm on each side of a cancer) were shown by Facista et al. to frequently have epigenetic defects in 2 or 3 DNA repair proteins (ERCC1, XPF or PMS2) in the entire area of the field defect. Deficiencies in DNA repair cause increased mutation rates. A deficiency in DNA repair, itself, can allow DNA damages to accumulate, and error-prone translesion synthesis past some of those damages may give rise to mutations. In addition, faulty repair of these accumulated DNA damages may give rise to epimutations. These new mutations or epimutations may provide a proliferative advantage, generating a field defect. Although the mutations/epimutations in DNA repair genes do not, themselves, confer a selective advantage, they may be carried along as passengers in cells when the cells acquire additional mutations/epimutations that do provide a proliferative advantage.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

The term neoplasm is a synonym of tumor. Neoplasia denotes the process of the formation of neoplasms/tumors, and the process is referred to as a neoplastic process. The word neoplastic itself comes from Greek {{Transliteration|grc|neo}} 'new' and {{Transliteration|grc|plastic}} 'formed, molded'.{{cn|date=January 2022}}

The term tumor derives from the Latin noun {{Lang|la|tumor}} 'a swelling', ultimately from the verb {{Lang|la|tumēre}} 'to swell'. In the British Commonwealth, the spelling tumour is commonly used, whereas in the U.S. the word is usually spelled tumor.{{cn|date=January 2022}}

In its medical sense, tumor has traditionally meant an abnormal swelling of the flesh. The Roman medical encyclopedist Celsus ({{circa}} 30 BC–38 AD) described the four cardinal signs of acute inflammation as {{Lang|la|tumor}}, {{Lang|la|dolor}}, {{Lang|la|calor}}, and {{Lang|la|rubor}} (swelling, pain, increased heat, and redness). (His treatise, De Medicina, was the first medical book printed in 1478 following the invention of the movable-type printing press.)

In contemporary English, the word tumor is often used as a synonym for a cystic (liquid-filled) growth or solid neoplasm (cancerous or non-cancerous),Tumor in [https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001310.htmMedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia] with other forms of swelling often referred to as "swellings".

{{cite encyclopedia

|title= Swelling

|url= https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003103.htm

|encyclopedia= MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia

|date= October 14, 2012

}}

Related terms occur commonly in the medical literature, where the nouns tumefaction and tumescence (derived from the adjective tumescent){{Cite OED | tumescence}} are current medical terms for non-neoplastic swelling. This type of swelling is most often caused by inflammation caused by trauma, infection, and other factors.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

Tumors may be caused by conditions other than an overgrowth of neoplastic cells, however. Cysts (such as sebaceous cysts) are also referred to as tumors, even though they have no neoplastic cells. This is standard in medical-billing terminology (especially when billing for a growth whose pathology has yet to be determined).{{cn|date=May 2023}}

{{Portal|Biology|Medicine}}

• Epidemiology of cancer
• List of biological development disorders
• Pleomorphism
• Somatic evolution in cancer

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{{Medical resources

| DiseasesDB = 28841

| ICD10 = {{ICD10|C|00||c|00}}–{{ICD10|D|48||d|37}}

| ICD9 = {{ICD9|140}}–{{ICD9|239.99}}

| ICDO =

| OMIM =

| MedlinePlus = 001310.

| eMedicineSubj =

| eMedicineTopic =

| MeshID = D009369

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