Is cancer homogeneous or heterogeneous?
Introduction. Cancer is a heterogeneous disease. Practically from the moment pathologists first looked at human cancers under the microscope, they saw that differing histologic appearances could define distinct subtypes of cancers from the same primary site of origin.
What does it mean if a cancer is heterogeneous?
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Tumour heterogeneity describes the observation that different tumour cells can show distinct morphological and phenotypic profiles, including cellular morphology, gene expression, metabolism, motility, proliferation, and metastatic potential.
Are cancer cells heterogeneous?
Phenotypic and functional heterogeneity arise among cancer cells within the same tumor as a consequence of genetic change, environmental differences, and reversible changes in cellular properties. Some cancers also contain a hierarchy in which tumorigenic cancer stem cells differentiate into non-tumorigenic progeny.
What causes tumor heterogeneity?
To a substantial extent, this heterogeneity might be attributed to morphological and epigenetic plasticity, but there is also strong evidence for the co-existence of genetically divergent tumor cell clones within tumors.
What is homogeneous cancer?
Tumor homogeneity refers to the cellular populations bearing the same or similar genetic or epigenetic characters within the same lesion or in different lesions of the same patient.
What is homogeneous vs heterogeneous?
In most technical applications homogeneous means that the properties of a system are the uniform throughout the entire system; heterogeneous (also inhomogeneous) means that the properties change within the system. Any system with two phases like ice and water are said to be heterogeneous.
What does heterogeneous mean in medical terms?
Heterogeneous refers to a structure with dissimilar components or elements, appearing irregular or variegated. For example, a dermoid cyst has heterogeneous attenuation on CT. It is the antonym for homogeneous, meaning a structure with similar components.
Can a benign tumor be heterogeneous?
In contrast, 91 of the 164 benign lesions (56%) were heterogeneous on T2WI. Univariate analysis showed that depth, size and heterogeneity on T2WI differed significantly between benign and malignant masses.
What do you mean by heterogeneity?
: the quality or state of consisting of dissimilar or diverse elements : the quality or state of being heterogeneous cultural heterogeneity.
What is heterogeneous and homogeneous example?
A homogeneous mixture appears uniform, regardless of where you sample it. Examples of homogeneous mixtures include air, saline solution, most alloys, and bitumen. Examples of heterogeneous mixtures include sand, oil and water, and chicken noodle soup.
What does homogeneous mean in medical terms?
uniform structure
Medical Definition of homogeneous : of uniform structure or composition throughout.
What are the causes and consequences of tumor heterogeneity?
Tumor heterogeneity: causes and consequences 1 2.1. Cancer stem cells. The concept of cancer stem cells was proposed to explain heterogeneity… 2 2.2. Phenotypic plasticity. An alternative explanation for the differential ability… 3 3.1. Intra-tumor clonal diversity. Non-heritable mechanisms of cellular heterogeneity, however,…
What is tumor heterogeneity at Memorial Sloan Kettering?
At Memorial Sloan Kettering and at other research centers around the world, the push is on to characterize the molecular variations between tumors — known as inter-tumor heterogeneity — and offer individualized treatments to more patients. That alone is a massive task.
How are genomic studies improving our understanding of heterogeneity?
Genomic studies have significantly improved our understanding of heterogeneity, and have pointed to ways in which heterogeneity might be understood and defeated for therapeutic effect. Cancer heterogeneity, long recognized as an important clinical determinant of patient outcomes, was poorly understood at a molecular level.
How is clonal heterogeneity a symptom of cancer?
Clonal heterogeneity within primary tumors is only one of the aspects of clonal heterogeneity of cancers. Cancer is a systemic disease: malignant cancers shed large numbers of cells into the blood stream and lymph vessels; some of these cells settle down in distant sites and develop into metastases.