Malignancy

This article is about the medical condition. For other uses, see Malignancy (disambiguation).

Malignancy (from Latin male "badly" + -gnus "born") is the tendency of a medical condition, especially tumors, to become progressively worse and to potentially result in death. Malignancy in cancers is characterized by anaplasia, invasiveness, and metastasis.

Malignancy is most familiar as a characterization of cancer. A malignant tumor contrasts with a non-cancerous benign tumor in that a malignancy is not self-limited in its growth, is capable of invading into adjacent tissues, and may be capable of spreading to distant tissues. A benign tumor has none of those properties.

Uses of "malignant" in oncology:

• Malignancy, malignant neoplasm, and malignant tumor are synonymous with cancer
• Malignant ascites
• Malignant transformation

Non-oncologic disorders referred to as "malignant":

• Malignant hypertension
• Malignant hyperthermia
• Malignant otitis externa
• Malignant tertian malaria (Malaria caused specifically by Plasmodium falciparum)
• Neuroleptic malignant syndrome

See also

• Premalignant