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cytoplasm

If the nucleus is the archive, this is the factory floor, and pathologists read the two compartments against each other as a ratio.

diffuse

Diffuse describes a finding, symptom, or process that is spread broadly through a tissue or region rather than confined to one specific area.

dysplasia

Pathologists grade this finding from mild to severe, and the grade, not the label alone, carries most of its meaning.

excisional biopsy

The whole lump comes out, so the pathologist can judge not only what the cells are but where they stop.

extraosseous

Extraosseous findings or tissue occur outside the bone itself, a distinction that matters when a tumor or process could otherwise arise within it.

fibrocystic breast disease

The older name for ordinary cyclical breast lumpiness, kept in many records although the word disease is now considered inaccurate.

fibrous

Fibrous tissue is made up of dense strands of connective fiber, giving it strength and structure but comparatively little flexibility.

fluorescence microscopy

Fluorescence microscopy uses light-emitting dyes or naturally fluorescent molecules to make specific cells, proteins, or organisms visible against a dark background.

formaldehyde

Formaldehyde is a simple, reactive chemical compound used as a preservative and disinfectant that is also classified as a known human carcinogen.

Gleason score

Two numbers added together, one for the commonest growth pattern and one for the next, describing how far prostate cancer has strayed from normal.

grading

Answers how the cells look, never how far the disease has traveled, which is why the number is so often quoted alone and misread.

hepatoma

/ HEH-puh-TOH-muh /

Hepatoma is an older, imprecise term for a liver tumor and has often been used to mean hepatocellular carcinoma.

heterogeneous

One word doing three jobs, in radiology, pathology and research, and the reason a single sample can misrepresent a whole tumor.

Hodgkin disease

The older name for a lymphoma that stands apart from every other one, in the cell that defines it and in the way it spreads.

hypersensitivity

The damage comes from the response rather than the substance, as harmless proteins provoke a reaction built for parasites and pathogens.

immune response

A properly functioning immune response distinguishes harmful invaders from the body's own tissue, activating defenses that range from rapid to highly specific.

immunocompetence

Immunocompetence is the capacity of the immune system to recognize and respond effectively to infections and other foreign substances.

in situ

In situ describes something found or observed in its original, natural location, without having moved, spread, or been removed from that place.

keratoacanthoma

This dome shaped skin growth appears within weeks and often resolves untreated, yet it can be nearly indistinguishable from squamous cell carcinoma.

light microscope

The instrument behind nearly every pathology slide, and one whose limit is set by the wavelength of light itself.