What it means
A malignant tumor is a cancer. Its cells grow without control, push into nearby tissue and can travel through the blood or lymph to form new tumors elsewhere (metastasis). The word also means dangerous or getting worse quickly in a few other terms, such as malignant hypertension and malignant hyperthermia. The opposite is benignbih-NYNNot cancerous: describing a growth that does not invade nearby tissue or spread; also, mild and not dangerous.Full entry .
At a glance
| Spanish | maligno |
|---|
Easy to confuse with
benign
Not cancerous: describing a growth that does not invade nearby tissue or spread; also, mild and not dangerous.
Related terms
antineoplastic
A drug used to treat cancer by killing cancer cells or stopping them from growing and dividing.
-oma
A word ending that means tumor or mass.
lung cancer
Cancer that starts in the cells of the lungs.
benign
Not cancerous: describing a growth that does not invade nearby tissue or spread; also, mild and not dangerous.