differences between Benign and Malignant Tumor

Biological differences between Benign and Malignant Tumor

Characteristics	Benign tumor	Malignant tumor
Growth rate	Slow	Rapid
Growth limit	Restricted	Unrestricted
Mode of growth	Expansion	Infiltration/invasion
Differentiation	Good	Undifferentiated
Stroma	Abundant	Usually scanty
Metastasis	None	Frequent
Recurrence	Rare except hemangiopericytoma	Frequent
Stalk of surface tumor	Pedunculated	Broad base/ sessile

Microscopic differences between Benign and Malignant Tumor

Characteristics	Benign tumor	Malignant tumor
Degree of differentiation	Well differentiated and resemble normal cells	Poorly or undifferentiated or anaplastic
Cytologic features	Almost no pleomorphism	Pleomorphic (different cell size and shape)
Hyperchromasia	Hyperchromatic	Intensely hyperchromatic
Nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio	High	Very high
Size of nucleolus	Enlarged	More enlarged