Malignancy (from Latin male 'badly' and -gnus 'born') is the tendency of a medical condition to become progressively worse; the term is most familiar as a characterization of cancer.
The term benign in more general medical use characterizes a condition or growth that is not cancerous, i.e. does not spread to other parts of the body or invade nearby tissue.
[9] A general list of common signs and symptoms includes pain (headaches or bone aches), skin changes (new moles or bumps), coughing and unusual bleeding.
[1] There are also signs and symptoms specific to females including belly pain and bloating or breast changes i.e., the formation of a lump.
Reasons which can explain their development include genetics and family history, triggers such as infectious diseases, and exposure to risk factors.
[10] Bacteria, fungi and similar pathogens have the ability to form an environment within states of chronic inflammation which gives rise to oncogenic potential.
[11] Traditional risk factors of developing malignancy include smoking, sun exposure and, having a history of cancer in the family.
[12] Individuals who undergo organ transplant surgery have an increased risk of developing malignancy in comparison to the general population.
A large portion of patients are at risk of death when diagnosed with malignancy as the disease has usually progressed for a number of years before detection.
[14] This would occur if an individual is predisposed to the formation of malignant cells as a result of inherited genetic mutations and, acquired diseases.
[14] This process requires a sufficient amount of tissue to make a confident diagnosis and, the handling of specimen to expand information provided from testing.
[14] Hematoporphyrin derivative (HPD) is a drug which was developed to be absorbed by malignant cells and only becomes active when exposed to light.
[17] It is commonly used to identify and localise cancers as when it is under activation of blue light the red fluorescence of the malignant tumour (due to the HPD) can be observed easily.
[19] The singlet oxygen is a cytotoxic agent [18] which holds the ability to eradicate malignant cells by preventing both nucleic acid and protein synthesis.
[21] The use of this treatment type largely depends on the fact that malignant and normal cells have differing responses to the energy source used.
[22] It can be administered through "injection, intra-arterial (IA), intraperitoneal (IP), intrathecal (IT), intravenous (IV), topical or oral".
[24] There are no specific areas which are targeted and so, there is a lack of differentiation between normal and malignant cells,[24] resulting in a range of side effects.
[23] Alkylating agents are used in chemotherapy as these are chemically reactive drugs which form covalent bonds when reacting with DNA.