What it means
A benign tumor grows slowly in one place and does not spread to other parts of the body, although it can still cause problems by pressing on nearby organs. Examples are most moles, lipomas and uterine fibroids. The word is also used for harmless conditions, such as benign prostatic hyperplasiabee-NINE proh-STAT-ik hy-per-PLAY-zhuhA prostate gland that has grown larger than normal, from growth that is not cancer.hyper- more than normalplas growth or formation-ia conditionFull entry . The opposite is malignantmuh-LIG-nuntCancerous: describing a tumor whose cells grow out of control, invade nearby tissue and can spread through the body.Full entry .
At a glance
| Spanish | benigno |
|---|
Easy to confuse with
malignant
Cancerous: describing a tumor whose cells grow out of control, invade nearby tissue and can spread through the body.