Overview
A malignant neoplasm is an abnormal, uncontrolled growth of cells that has the capacity to invade surrounding tissues and spread, or metastasize, to other parts of the body. Commonly referred to as cancer, malignant Neoplasms differ from benign tumors in their ability to infiltrate adjacent structures and seed distant sites, which makes them potentially life-threatening if not detected and treated early. They can arise in virtually any tissue or organ and are classified according to the cell type and site of origin, with diagnosis relying on imaging, laboratory tests, and histopathological examination. Early detection, accurate classification, and timely treatment are central to improving prognosis. Within this journal's focus on Neoplasms, relevant work includes a case report distinguishing a second malignant neoplasm from extra-neuraxial metastasis in a previously treated medulloblastoma using contemporary pathology techniques, epidemiological analyses of malignant Neoplasms of the central nervous system and of malignant brain Neoplasms in a regional population, a report of eccrine porocarcinoma, and a study of secular trends in thyroid cancer. Together these illustrate the diagnosis, classification, and epidemiology of malignant tumors. This page gathers peer-reviewed, open-access research relevant to the topic.