Whats the difference between a benign and malignant lump or tumour?
Lumps and growths in the body can have lots of different causes. Your doctor may use the term ‘benign’ or ‘malignant’ to describe them .. but what do these mean?
A benign lump happens when there is extra growth of cells in part of the body. They tend to grow slowly. These are not cancer and will not spread to other places in the body.
Examples include a benign bowel polyp or a benign breast tumour.
However, benign lumps can still cause problems such as pain, blockage of nearby structures or cosmetic concerns and so are often still removed. Some benign tumours have a risk of becoming malignant over time and so these are monitored or removed.
A malignant lump is a cancer. These occur due to growth of very abnormal cells. They tend to grow more quickly than benign lumps and can cause destruction to surrounding tissues.
They also have the potential to spread to other places in the body (metastasise). These are usually removed as soon as possible, or treated with other treatments such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
