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Dysplasia

 
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Dysplasia (from Greek, roughly: "bad formation") is a term used in pathology
Pathology

Pathology is the study and diagnosis of disease through examination of Organ , tissue , bodily fluids and whole bodies . The term also encompasses the related science study of disease processes, called General pathology....
 to refer to an abnormality in maturation of cells
Cell (biology)

The cell is the structural and functional unit of all known Life organisms. It is the smallest unit of an organism that is classified as living, and is often called the building bricks of life....
 within a tissue.






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Squamous Cells
Dysplastic Cells
Dysplasia (from Greek, roughly: "bad formation") is a term used in pathology
Pathology

Pathology is the study and diagnosis of disease through examination of Organ , tissue , bodily fluids and whole bodies . The term also encompasses the related science study of disease processes, called General pathology....
 to refer to an abnormality in maturation of cells
Cell (biology)

The cell is the structural and functional unit of all known Life organisms. It is the smallest unit of an organism that is classified as living, and is often called the building bricks of life....
 within a tissue. This generally consists of an expansion of immature cells, with a corresponding decrease in the number and location of mature cells. Dysplasia is often indicative of an early neoplastic
Neoplasia

Neoplasia is the abnormal proliferation of Cell , resulting in a structure known as a neoplasm. The growth of this clone of cells exceeds, and is uncoordinated with, that of the normal tissues around it....
 process. The term dysplasia is typically used when the cellular abnormality is restricted to the originating tissue, as in the case of an early, in-situ neoplasm. For example, epithelial dysplasia of the cervix (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia
Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia , also known as cervical dysplasia, is the potentially premalignant transformation and abnormal growth of squamous cells on the surface of the cervix....
 - a disorder commonly detected by an abnormal pap smear
Pap smear

The Papanicolaou test is a Screening used in gynecology to detect premalignant and malignant processes in the ectocervix. Significant changes can be treated, thus preventing cervical cancer....
) consists of an increased population of immature (basal-like) cells which are restricted to the mucosal surface, and have not invaded through the basement membrane
Basement membrane

The basement membrane is a sheet of cells and fibers that covers two other kinds of cells -- the epithelium, which lines the cavities and surfaces of organs, and the endothelium, which lines the interior surface of blood vessels....
 to the deeper soft tissues. Myelodysplastic syndrome
Myelodysplastic syndrome

The myelodysplastic syndromes are a diverse collection of hematology conditions united by ineffective production of myeloid blood cells and risk of transformation to acute myelogenous leukemia ....
s, or dysplasia of blood-forming cells, show increased numbers of immature cells in the bone marrow
Bone marrow

Bone marrow is the flexible biological tissue found in the hollow interior of bones. In adults, marrow in large bones produces new blood cells....
, and a decrease in mature, functional cells in the blood
Blood

Blood is a specialized bodily fluid that delivers necessary substances to the body's Cell s ? such as nutrients and oxygen ? and transports waste products away from those same cells....
.

Dysplasia, in which cell maturation and differentiation are delayed, can be contrasted with metaplasia
Metaplasia

Metaplasia is the reversible replacement of one Cellular differentiation cell type with another mature differentiated cell type. The change from one type of cell to another is generally caused by some sort of abnormal stimulus....
, in which cells of one mature, differentiated
Differentiation

Differentiation can mean the following:* The act of finding the derivative in mathematics* Differentiated instruction in education,* Cellular differentiation in biology...
 type are replaced by cells of another mature, differentiated type.

Dysplasia vs. carcinoma in situ vs. invasive carcinoma

These terms are related since they represent the three steps in the progression of many malignant neoplasms (cancers)
Cancer

Cancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cell display uncontrolled growth , invasion , and sometimes metastasis . These three malignant properties of cancers differentiate them from benign tumors, which are self-limited, do not invade or metastasize....
 of epithelial tissues
Epithelium

In biology and medicine, epithelium is a Biological tissue composed of cell s that line the cavities and surfaces of structures throughout the body....
.
  • Dysplasia is the earliest form of pre-cancerous lesion recognizable in a pap smear or in a biopsy
    Biopsy

    A biopsy is a medical test involving the removal of Cell_s or Biological tissues for examination. It is the removal of tissue from a living subject to determine the presence or extent of a disease....
     by a pathologist
    Pathology

    Pathology is the study and diagnosis of disease through examination of Organ , tissue , bodily fluids and whole bodies . The term also encompasses the related science study of disease processes, called General pathology....
    . Dysplasia can be low grade or high grade (see "Carcinoma in situ," below). The risk of low grade dysplasia transforming into high grade dysplasia and, eventually, cancer is low. Treatment is usually straightforward. High grade dysplasia represents a more advanced progression towards malignant transformation.
  • Carcinoma in situ
    Carcinoma in situ

    Carcinoma in situ is an early form of carcinoma defined by the absence of invasion of surrounding tissues. In other words, the neoplasm proliferate in their normal habitat, hence the name 'in situ' ....
    , meaning "cancer in place," represents the transformation of a neoplastic lesion to one in which cells undergo essentially no maturation, and thus may be considered cancer-like
    Cancer

    Cancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cell display uncontrolled growth , invasion , and sometimes metastasis . These three malignant properties of cancers differentiate them from benign tumors, which are self-limited, do not invade or metastasize....
    . In this state, cells have lost their tissue identity and have reverted back to a primitive cell form that grows rapidly and without regulation. However, this form of cancer remains localized, and has not invaded into tissues below the surface.
  • Invasive carcinoma
    Carcinoma

    A carcinoma is any malignant cancer that arises from Epithelium. Carcinomas invade surrounding tissues and organs and may Metastasis, or spread, to lymph nodes and other sites....
     is the final step in this sequence. It is a cancer which has invaded beyond the original tissue layer and may be able to spread to other parts of the body (metastasize). Invasive cancer can usually be treated, but not always successfully. However, if it is left untreated, it is almost always fatal.


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See also

  • Fibrous dysplasia
    Fibrous dysplasia

    Fibrous dysplasia is a disease that causes bone thinning and growths or lesions in one or more bones of the human body....
  • Cervical dysplasia
  • Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia
    Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

    Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia , also known as cervical dysplasia, is the potentially premalignant transformation and abnormal growth of squamous cells on the surface of the cervix....
  • Vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia
    Vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia

    Vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia is a condition that describes Premalignant condition histological findings in the vagina characterized by Dysplasia changes....
  • Vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia
    Vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia

    Vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia denotes a squamous intraepithelial lesion of the vulva that shows dysplasia with varying degrees of atypia. The epithelial basement membrane is intact and the lesion is thus not invasive but has invasive potential....