whats the difference between a tumour and a cancer?

Question

I was wondering whether tumours cause cancers or whether they were two different things.
Can someone please explain.

Answer 1

Technically they are not considered the same. A tumor can be benign or malignant. A benign tumor is not considered cancer. The difference is that a malignant tumor or cancerous tumor has the ability to replicate itself and spread microscopic copies of the cancer all through the body. Which means that one cancerous tumor has the ability to create hundreds more. A benign tumor just stays in one spot. However, a benign tumor also has the ability to change into a malignant tumor . . so anytype of tumor should be taken seriously whether it is described as benign or malignant.

You can check online what different types of tumors and cancers look like under Human Pathology. Warning - Some tumors are graphic and shocking if you've never seen one before:

http://www.humpath.com/-G-Tumoral-pathology-

Answer 2

A tumor is an abnormal growth or mass of tissue.

As mentioned, a tumor may be benign or malignant. This means the cells will not break off and spread to remote parts of the body. Benign tumors grow in place. In many cases, benign tumors can be easily removed. Benign tumors are NOT cancer. However, some benign tumors can become malignant.

A malignant tumor is cancer. It has the ability to spread (metasisize) throughout the body.

So, a tumor is not necessarily cancer but, is cancer necessarily a tumor?

The answer is NO. Leukemia are cancers of the blood. There is no solid tumor in that case.

Answer 3

A fast growing benign tumor (not cancer) can be more life threatening that a slow growing cancer.

Answer 4

A tumor could be cancerous or non-cancerous. Cancer are cells that have gone out of control.

Answer 5

Now, here in the Philippines, we have many herbal medicines for treating cancer - but it is better if the cancer is in earlier stage. So if you know some friends with this case, encourage them to order herbal medicines here.


A. tu·mor (tmr, ty-) KEY

NOUN:

1.) An abnormal growth of tissue resulting from uncontrolled, progressive multiplication of cells and serving no physiological function; a neoplasm.

2.) A swollen part; a swelling.

B. What is a Tumor?

Tumors are a dense collection of cells that are created when the orderly process of cell division goes out of control and cells begin to multiply to quickly. When a person is diagnosed with having a tumor in some part of the body, tests will be done to determine if it is either benign or malignant.

Benign Tumours
Benign tumors are not cancerous
In fact the word benign means harmless. A benign tumor is created by slower growing cells that clump together to form a lump that usually has a smooth surface. Benign tumors do not spread to other parts of the body and they are almost never life threatening. The only time that they could be life threatening is when they are located in an area of the body such as the brain where they could interfere with vital body functions. Although surgical removal is often recommended, once the benign tumor is removed it usually does not come back.



Malignant Tumors
Malignant Tumors are Cancerous
Malignant tumors are created by the growth of cells that clump together to form a lump that does not have distinct borders especially at a later stage of it's development when it will have roots that tend to stick out from the central lump. Tumors can develop in any part of the body. The one exception where cancers do not form a tumor is for Leukemia which is a cancer of the blood and organs that are responsible for the formation of blood including the lymph system, bone marrow and the spleen.

Tumors that do not spread.
When the tumor does not spread it means the cancer will remain in the place where it first started. When this happens the tumor will continue to grow until it sooner or later becomes large enough to push against and effect, the normal functioning of the surrounding tissue or organ causing pain or other symptoms. This type of cancer is called "non-invasive" which means it has not invaded other parts of the body and it is usually easier to treat.



Tumors that spread .
When the tumor does spread it means the cancerous cells of a tumor will break away from the original site of the tumor and begin to move through the bloodstream or the lymph system to other parts of the body. When this happens the cells can continue to grow out of control and form new malignant tumors in different parts of the body. The spread of cancer cells from the original tumor to one or more other parts of the body, is called "invasive" cancer. The medical term that is used is to describe the spread of a disease from one part of the body to another is metastasis.
The cells that first begin to lump together create what is called the primary tumor. The grouping together of cells to form a cancerous tumor often takes place very slowly so that the tumor does not exhibit any detectable symptoms for many months or in some individuals or types of cancer, even for many years. Eventually though, the tumor will continue to develop and when it does one of two things will happen; the tumor will either spread (metastasize) or it will not spread.

One very important characteristic of a cancer that has metastasized and spread from it's place of origin to a different part of the body, is that although it is now located in two parts of the body, it does not become a new type of cancer. For example if a cancer that started in the lungs and has been diagnosed as lung cancer later spreads to the stomach. It is still a lung cancer and not a stomach cancer. This fact is very important for treatment since a lung cancer that spread to the stomach or other part of the body will still be treated as a lung cancer and not as a stomach cancer.

Although any malignant tumor can eventually spread to other parts of the body, this is less likely to happen for tumors that start in the brain. Malignant brain tumors often do not spread (metastasize) and if they do it is almost always just from the original site of the brain tumor to other parts of the brain or to the spine. On the other hand, tumors formed in other parts of the body can spread to the brain.

C. Cancer is a disease characterized by a population of cells that grow and divide without respect to normal limits, invade and destroy adjacent tissues, and may spread to distant anatomic sites through a process called metastasis. These malignant properties of cancers differentiate them from benign tumors, which are self-limited in their growth and do not invade or metastasize (although some benign tumor types are capable of becoming malignant). Cancer may affect people at all ages, but risk for the more common varieties tends to increase with age.[1] Cancer causes about 13% of all deaths.[2]

Nearly all cancers are caused by abnormalities in the genetic material of the transformed cells. These abnormalities may be due to the effects of carcinogens, such as tobacco smoke, radiation, chemicals, or infectious agents. Other cancer-promoting genetic abnormalities may be randomly acquired through errors in DNA replication, or are inherited, and thus present in all cells from birth. Complex interactions between carcinogens and the host genome may explain why only some develop cancer after exposure to a known carcinogen. New aspects of the genetics of cancer pathogenesis, such as DNA methylation, and microRNAs are increasingly being recognized as important.

Answer 6

you can have a cancerous tumor, that can spread and kill you..or you can have a benign tumor which just may be uncomfortable and ugly but doesn't kill you. A tumor starts as a small lump and grows larger.

Answer 7

They are exactly the same thing.
A tumour can grow very quickly and be the size of an apple.
It is sread through your Lymphnodes to reach other parts of your body.