pilocytic
Meaning of pilocytic: Pilocytic describes tissue made of long, hair like cells under the microscope, a pattern most associated with a specific type of brain tumor.
Definition of pilocytic
Pilocytic is a descriptive term used in pathology for cells or tissue that appear long, thin, and hair like when examined under a microscope, resembling fine strands of hair rather than the more rounded or irregular shapes seen in many other tissue types. The term comes directly from this hair like microscopic appearance.
Pilocytic is most often encountered as part of the name pilocytic astrocytoma, a slow growing brain tumor arising from star shaped supportive cells called astrocytes, where the tumor cells characteristically form these elongated, hair like fibers. This distinctive appearance helps a pathologist distinguish a pilocytic astrocytoma from other, more aggressive types of astrocytoma under the microscope.
Because the pilocytic pattern is closely tied to a tumor's identity and expected behavior, recognizing this feature on a tissue sample plays an important role in diagnosis and treatment planning.
Used in a sentence
Biopsy of the brain tumor showed a pilocytic pattern consistent with a low grade astrocytoma.
Good to know
The pilocytic appearance under the microscope generally corresponds to a slow growing, less aggressive tumor, part of why identifying this pattern on biopsy carries a different implication than a more disorganized cellular pattern.
Word origin
Where “pilocytic” comes from
Formed from Latin pilus, meaning hair, and the Greek suffix -cytic, from kytos, meaning cell, describing cells with a thin, hair like appearance.