What is a differentiation in medical terms?

What is a differentiation in medical terms?

Differentiation: 1 The process by which cells become progressively more specialized; a normal process through which cells mature. This process of specialization for the cell comes at the expense of its breadth of potential. Stem cells can, for example, differentiate into secretory cells in the intestine.

What does loss of differentiation mean?

Lack of differentiation is considered a hallmark of aggressive malignancies (for example, it differentiates leiomyosarcomas from leiomyomas). The term anaplasia literally means “to form backward”. It implies dedifferentiation, or loss of structural and functional differentiation of normal cells.

What does poorly differentiated mean in medical terms?

Pathologists use the term poorly differentiated to describe tumours made up of cancer cells that look very abnormal compared to normal cells, non-cancerous cells. Cancer cells can be described as poorly differentiated based on their shape, size, or colour.

What does it mean that cancer cells lack differentiation?

Cancer cells lack differentiation, meaning that they have failed to develop the specialized structure or function that the cell should have. Cancer cells have abnormally large nuclei and/or nuclei with an abnormal number of chromosomes. Cancer cells form a mass of dividing cells called a tumor.

What is the meant by the term differentiation?

Definition of differentiation 1 : the act or process of differentiating. 2 : development from the one to the many, the simple to the complex, or the homogeneous to the heterogeneous differentiation of Latin into vernaculars. 3 biology. a : modification of body parts for performance of particular functions.

What is meant by the term differentiation and why is it important?

Differentiation in (developmental biology) refers to the normal process by which a less specialized cell undergoes maturation to become more distinct in form and function. It is also called cell differentiation.

What is it called when a tumor is classified based on the spread of the tumor?

What is tumor grade? Tumor grade is the description of a tumor based on how abnormal the tumor cells and the tumor tissue look under a microscope. It is an indicator of how quickly a tumor is likely to grow and spread.

What does the term differentiation mean in biology?

In biological development: Differentiation. Differentiation is simply the process of becoming different. If, in connection with biological development, morphogenesis is set aside as a component for separate consideration, there are two distinct types of differentiation.

What factor differentiates a malignant tumor from a benign tumor?

A benign tumor is well differentiated, grows slowly, shows expansile growth with encapsulation and does not metastasize. In contrast, a malignant tumor is often poorly differentiated, grows rapidly with many mitoses, shows invasive growth with no capsule and frequently metastasizes.

What are the differences between malignant and benign tumors?

Tumors can be benign (noncancerous) or malignant (cancerous). Benign tumors tend to grow slowly and do not spread. Malignant tumors can grow rapidly, invade and destroy nearby normal tissues, and spread throughout the body.

What is meant by the term differentiation and why is it so important?

When cells express specific genes that characterise a certain type of cell we say that a cell has become differentiated. Differentiated cells are important in a multicellular organism because they are able to perform a specialised function in the body.

What is the meaning of loss of differentiation?

Loss of structural differentiation, especially as seen in most, but not all, malignant neoplasms. Synonym(s): dedifferentiation (2) . anaplasia. loss of differentiation of cells, an irreversible alteration in adult cells toward more primitive (embryonic) cell types; a characteristic of tumor cells.

What is another word for dedifferentiation?

Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia. loss of differentiation of cells and their orientation to each other, a characteristic of tumor cells; called also dedifferentiation and undifferentiation.

What is cell differentiation in plants?

cell differentiation the process by which young cells develop into the various cell types making up the plant or animal structure. All young cells in an organism are thought to contain the same genetic information (DNA) and may become differentiated into any type of cell, the mature cell being produced by GENE SWITCHING rather than loss of DNA.

What does it mean to be differentiated in oncology?

Oncology The degree to which tumor cells resemble normal cells; differentiated cells grow more slowly than undifferentiated tumor cells. See Dedifferentiation. 1. The acquisition or possession of one or more characteristics or functions different from that of the original type.