hepatoma
Meaning of hepatoma: Hepatoma is an older, imprecise term for a liver tumor and has often been used to mean hepatocellular carcinoma.
Definition of hepatoma
Hepatoma literally refers to a tumor of the liver. In clinical and historical records, it has often been used as a synonym for hepatocellular carcinoma, a primary malignant tumor arising from hepatocytes. Because the term can be ambiguous and is considered obsolete in modern cancer classification, a more specific pathologic diagnosis should be used when available.
How hepatoma is built
- hepat/o Combining form · Greek liver
- -oma Suffix · Greek tumour, mass, swelling
A medical term is read from its ending backwards: the suffix first, then the prefix, then the root. See all 223 word parts.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
The historical report used hepatoma, while the current pathology diagnosis specified hepatocellular carcinoma.
Good to know
The word hepatoma alone may not communicate the tumor’s exact type or behavior. Pathology, imaging, and the full clinical record are needed to identify a specific liver neoplasm.
Word origin
Where “hepatoma” comes from
Built from hepato-, meaning “liver,” and -oma, meaning “tumor” or “mass.”