We managed to go a long time since this was last needed, so Dr.
William's hard work creating this is working over time to teach people
about "cancer"! BTW, There are HUNDREDS of types of malignancies and
what works or doesn't work for one won't be the same for another; they
vary in virulence and rates across species or subspecies if isolated
from each other enough for long enough, too. For example, BFFs have
very different most common malignancies than domestic ferrets. (See
past Dr. Bruce Williams posts on that for more info.) Notice what is
NOT USUALLY malignant but STILL must be fixed for quality of life.

Golden Oldies:

These might be of interest. One is a past post from Dr. Bruce Williams,
and one is a compilation of some definitions from a veterinary
dictionary and some other related topic dictionaries done years ago.

>The thread on this is pretty good, and both Sukie and Stephanie have
>very valid points. The terminology of neoplasms can be confusing, and
>I'm sure even vets can be confused from time to time.
>
>The proper term for what you are talking about is neoplasm (or
>literally "new growth). For one reason or another, a clone of cells
>begins to grow uninhibited by normal substances or mechanisms. The
>word "tumor" may be technically correct, but it is actually non-
>specific - tumor is Latin for a swelling, but it could also be an
>abscess, or anything else that causes swelling - so I try to stay
>away from it.
>
>Now this neoplasm may be benign - without the ability for cells to
>detach into the bloodstream or lymph, move to another tissue, and set
>up shop - or malignant (where they can do this.) The process of
>microscopic piece of a tumor moving to another organ is called
>metastasis.
>
>Metastasis is the hallmark of malignancy. The worst tumors have the
>propensity to go anywhere and start growing (like lymphoma). However,
>we can recognize malignant tumors even before they metastasize, often
>by characteristic features seen under the microscope.
>
>Adrenal carcinomas (malignant adrenal tumors) are interesting
>neoplasms. Although they possess the ability to metastasize, only a
>small number do, and usually only late in the course of disease. It
>is likely that they do metastasize a lot, but have trouble gaining a
>foothold in distant tissues, so it takes a long time and many attempts
>if they ever truly metastasize.
>
>Insulinomas are generally not malignant tumors as they only very
>rarely metastasize. The presence of multiple tumors in the same organ
>over time is not metastasis. We do not understand the mechanism behind
>the generation of these tumors, and when we do surgery to remove them,
>we really are only treating the end point of this process, without
>address the cause. Thus it is really no surprise that the rate of
>recurrence is about 40% within 10 months.
>
>With kindest regards,
>Bruce Williams, DVM

Here are the definitions I looked up years ago:

Treat this as an supporting document to Bruce William's excellent post
above taken from FHL digest 348. I especially liked his providing the
direct translation of "tumor" as "swelling", and his explanation that
not all growths which can metastasize do so readily.

These definitions are combined ones from medical, veterinary, and
biology dictionaries, but emphases are mine and i am willing to be
corrected if I blew it...

[Posted in FML 5763]