Know your medical terms: Malignant

As you wait patiently for the doctor to tell you and your loved ones about your illness, hoping against hope that everything is alright, the doctor speaks, but you don’t understand a single wor

Pavitra Sampath | Updated: June 11, 2014 3:53 pm

As you wait patiently for the doctor to tell you and your loved ones about your illness, hoping against hope that everything is alright, the doctor speaks, but you don’t understand a single word! Packed with medical mumbo-jumbo doctors usually speak a language that nobody but their own peers can understand. A patient is usually left absolutely blank after a consultation, and walks out with the blind belief that the doctor knows what he is talking about. We at Health.india.com are going to attempt to explain one term at a time, so that your next visit to the doctor is much smoother. Last week we explained what the term ‘convalescence’, ‘prognosis’ and ‘benign’ means, this week are are going to talk about the word ‘malignant’.

Malignant is a term that is derived from a Latin word meaning ‘badly born’. It is usually used for patients diagnosed with cancer. The term ‘malignancy’ refers to cancerous cells, that have the unnatural ability to spread to other organs of the body. They usually are destructive in nature and infiltrate into the organ or tissue causing immense damage. The process of spreading to other organs is known as ‘Metastasis’. Malignant cells tend to have fast, uncontrolled growth due to changes in their genetic makeup and are most often resistant to treatment. This type of cancer or tumor is known to recur even after it has been completely removed from the body.

The word malignant is also used in conjunction with non-cancerous conditions as well, like Malignant hypertension, Malignant Hyperthermia etc.

Read more about causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

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Published: April 16, 2013 1:32 pm | Updated:June 11, 2014 3:53 pm

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