Malignancy
(from the Latin roots
mal-
= "bad" and
-ignis
= "fire") is the tendency of a medical condition, especially
tumors, to become progressively worse and to potentially result in death. It is characterized by the properties of
anaplasia, invasiveness, and
metastasis.
Malignant
is a corresponding
adjectival
medical term used to describe a severe and progressively worsening disease. The term is most familiar as a description of
cancer. A
malignant tumor
may be contrasted 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 (
metastasizing
), while a
benign tumor
has none of those properties. Malignant tumor is synonymous with cancer.
Uses of
"malignant"
in
oncology:
-
Malignancy
,
malignant neoplasm, and
malignant tumor are synonymous with
cancer
Non-oncologic disorders referred to as "malignant":
-
Benignity (the opposite of malignancy)
