In the case of tumors, dead cells remain and form a growth known as a tumor. Cancer cells grow in the same manner. However, unlike the cells in benign tumors, cancerous cells can invade nearby tissue and spread to other parts of the body.
Benign tumors are classified by where they grow. Lipomas , for example, grow from fat cells, while myomas grow from muscle. Different types of benign tumors are included below:.
In many cases, benign tumors will be monitored carefully. Noncancerous moles or colon polyps, for example, can turn into cancer at a later time.
Some types of internal benign tumors may cause other problems. Uterine fibroids can cause pelvic pain and abnormal bleeding , and some internal tumors may restrict a blood vessel or cause pain by pressing on a nerve. Anyone can develop a benign tumor, including children, though adults are more likely to develop them with increasing age. For example, if you have a benign brain tumor, you may experience headaches , vision trouble , and fuzzy memory.
If the tumor is close to the skin or in an area of soft tissue such as the abdomen, the mass may be felt by touch. They can be removed if they are. Lipomas, for example, may be large enough to detect, but are generally soft, movable, and painless. Some skin discoloration may be evident in the case of benign tumors that appear on the skin, such as nevi. Anything that looks abnormal should be evaluated by a doctor. Doctors use a variety of techniques to diagnose benign tumors.
The key in diagnosis is determining if a tumor is benign or malignant. Only laboratory tests can determine this with certainty.
Your doctor may begin by performing a physical examination and collecting your medical history. Benign tumors often have a visual border of a protective sac that helps doctors diagnose them as benign.
Your doctor may also order blood tests to check for the presence of cancer markers. Skin tumors are easy to remove and only require a local anesthetic, while colon polyps would require a colonoscopy , for example, and a stomach tumor may require an endoscopy. Not all benign tumors need treatment. In these cases, treatment could be riskier than letting the tumor be.
Tumors can vary in size from a tiny nodule to a large mass, depending on the type, and they can appear almost anywhere on the body. Benign : These are not cancerous. They either cannot spread or grow, or they do so very slowly.
If a doctor removes them, they do not generally return. Premalignant : In these tumors, the cells are not yet cancerous, but they have the potential to become malignant. Malignant : Malignant tumors are cancerous. The cells can grow and spread to other parts of the body.
It is not always clear how a tumor will act in the future. Some benign tumors can become premalignant and then malignant. For this reason, it is best to monitor any growth. However, they can cause pain or other problems if they press against nerves or blood vessels or if they trigger the overproduction of hormones, as in the endocrine system. Adenomas develop in glandular epithelial tissue, which is the thin membrane that covers glands, organs, and other structures in the body.
Adenomas do not start as cancer. However, some can change and become adenocarcinomas, which are cancerous. Learn more about fibroadenomas of the breast here. Fibroids , or fibromas, are benign tumors that can grow on the fibrous or connective tissue of any organ.
Some fibromas can cause symptoms and may need surgery. In rare cases, fibroids can change and become fibrosarcomas. These are cancerous. Learn more about dermatofibromas. They are often present at birth and disappear during childhood.
Hemangiomas do not usually need treatment, but laser surgery and other options are available if they do not go away. Find out more here about internal hemangiomas. Lipomas are a form of soft tissue tumor and consist of fat cells.
Most lipomas are small, painless, rubbery, soft to the touch, and movable. They often appear on the back, shoulders, arms, buttocks, and the tops of the legs. Types of lipoma include fibrolipomas, which contain fat cells and fibrous connective tissue, and angiolipomas, which appear under the skin. Find out more about angiolipomas here.
Sometimes, actinic keratosis will transform into squamous cell carcinoma , so doctors usually recommend treating it. In cervical dysplasia, a change occurs in the cells that line the cervix.
A doctor may find these cells during a Pap smear. Cervical dysplasia often stems from the human papillomavirus HPV , an infection that is common in young people.
These encourage new blood vessels to grow into the tumour. This is called angiogenesis. Without a blood supply, a tumour can't grow much bigger than a pin head. Once a cancer can stimulate blood vessel growth, it can grow bigger. It stimulates hundreds of new small blood vessels capillaries :. You can view a transcript of the video. There is a lot of research looking at angiogenesis.
We know from research so far that the amount of angiogenic factors is very high at the outer edges of a cancer. Some cancer drugs can stop cancers from growing their own blood vessels. These drugs are called anti angiogenic drugs. They can't get rid of a cancer but might be able to shrink it or stop it growing. More of these drugs are being developed and tested all the time. We have information about drugs that block blood vessel growth. You can also find out about trials that are looking at anti angiogenic drugs on our clinical trials database.
This is called local invasion. Researchers don't fully understand how cancer grows into the surrounding tissues. A cancer might grow out in a random direction from where it started. However, researchers know that tumours can spread into some tissues more easily than others. For example, large blood vessels that have strong walls and dense tissues such as cartilage are hard for tumours to grow into.
So, tumours tend to grow along the 'path of least resistance'. This means that they probably take the easiest route. We know from research that there are 3 different ways that tumours may grow into surrounding tissues. A tumour probably uses all 3 of these ways of spreading.
The way it uses most depends on:. As the tumour grows and takes up more space, it begins to press on the normal body tissue nearby. The tumour growth will force itself through the normal tissue, as in the diagram below.
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