Benign Tumors and cysts: what are they?

A tumor is a mass or lesion formed by an abnormal overgrowth of cells. It is solid, and is usually palpable at the side of the swelling. A tumor can develop from any tissue or organ in the body, since all tissues proliferate.

They are almost entirely caused by genetic mutations or any kind of infections which might result in cells proliferation.

The ability of a tumor to cause cancer or not depends on whether it metastasizes and invade other tissues. When the tumor spreads to other organs ( metastasis), it is characterized as malignant, and therefore can cause cancer. But in case it doesn't metastasize and doesn't invade surrounding tissues, the tumor is said to be benign, and therefore harmless.

Cysts, are a variety of benign tumors that are usually filled with fluid, air or any other solid material, depending on the organ where they develop. They are enclosed within a sac ( membrane), which gives them a balloon - like appearance. Like benign tumors, they can appear anywhere in the body, and can disappear anytime as well. They usually require no treatment, but in case they get infected, they can be removed by surgery.

Cysts can be inherited, or can be a result of an infection, a tumor, or a congenital birth defect.

One can be wondering: since cysts and benign tumors are that harmless, why should we be alerted about that? Why talking about that? Why creating a blog about that?

The answer is: benign tumors and cysts are not as harmless as they seem to be. Although non-invasive, they can compress surrounding structures such as nerves, arteries and even veins, thus causing a decrease in blood or nerve supply in the affected area. For example, the carpal tunnel syndrome can be caused by a cyst located in the wrist; which compresses the median nerve and prevents it from functioning.

In the next articles, we are going to discuss about different types of benign tumors and cysts, existing treatments, as well as side-effects of all those treatments..