What it means
The ending of words for a lump or swelling. Many are tumors: some benign, such as a lipoma (fatty lump), and some cancers, such as a melanoma or carcinoma. A few are not tumors at all: a hematomahee-muh-TOH-muhA collection of blood, often clotted, that has leaked out of the blood vessels into the tissue.hem/o blood (here as hemat-)-oma swelling or massFull entry is a collection of blood, and glaucoma is an eye disease. The word ending alone does not tell whether something is cancer.
Related terms
hematoma
A collection of blood, often clotted, that has leaked out of the blood vessels into the tissue.
aden/o
A word root that means gland.
malignant
Cancerous: describing a tumor whose cells grow out of control, invade nearby tissue and can spread through the body.
benign
Not cancerous: describing a growth that does not invade nearby tissue or spread; also, mild and not dangerous.