Question

What is the difference between benign tumor and malignant tumor?

Answer 1

The following table shows the difference between benign tumor and malignant tumor

Benign Tumor	Malignant Tumor
Benign Tumor remain in one place as a single well-defined mass of cells; stay together; usually surrounded by a connective tissue capsule; cell structure and function is slightly abnormal	Frequency of cell division in malignant tumor is rapid and completely out of control; cell structure and function is very abnormal; cells of malignant tumor travel to distant sites (metastasize)
Doesn't invade adjacent tissue because of the capsule	Cells break away to invade surrounding tissues or enter the blood and lymph
Cells of a benign tumor resemble normal cells	Cells don’t resemble normal cells
Generally poses no threat to life until they compress vital organs	Malignant tumors become invasive cancer
Restricts the normal tissue’s blood supply, affects control centers for heartbeat and respiration	Tumor can spread throughout the body as it travels in body or lymph vessels
Most tumors can be removed by surgery because they are so well contained	Malignant tumor (cancer) shows metastasis and can be categorized according to the types of tissues affected. The treatment depends on the type and stage of the tumor after diagnosis. While some cancers can be cured some of them are incurable. Deadly cancers can still be treated so that patients can live for several years with the cancer.
Examples: Moles on the skin are a form of benign tumor; certain moles develop into melanoma (a form of skin cancer); fibroid cysts that can occur in a woman’s breasts or uterus	Examples: Carcinoma is a malignant tumor that grows in the skin or in the tissues that line the inner or outer surfaces of the body; Sarcoma a malignant tumor that grows in bone or muscle tissue; malignant tumors in breast tissue can cause breast cancer; cancer in situ is a malignant tumor found

 

Answer 2

In the general term tumor refers to cancer [irregular cell division]. There are two types of tumor: 

Benign tumor: It never spreads to any other parts of the body. It sticks to the one surface.

Malignant tumor: It spread through out the body. Ex breast cancer

Answer 3

No.	Benign Tumour	Malignant Tumour
1.	Differentiated mass of cells	Undifferentiated mass of cells
2.	Rate of growth is slow	Rate of growth is fast
3.	Remains confined to site of origin	Enters the adjacent tissues
4.	It remains intact	It breaks off, and migrate to the other parts with blood or lymph to invade new tissues and forms secondary tumours.
5.	It is noncancerous	It is cancerous
6.	It is not fatal	It is fatal
7.	e.g. Lipoma	e.g. Leukemia