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Name: sandyl
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Question:
What might happen if a benign tumor is left untreated?


Replies:
If a benign tumor is left untreated several things might happen. The tumor could continue to grow and block blood or oxygen supply to some healthy tissue causing it to die (not so good if the tumor is in the brain). The tumor could stop growing or even 'regress' - become smaller. Then there would be no symptoms other than good health. The tumor could become malignant. This is bad and could result in metastasis or the spread of some of these malignant cells to other parts of the body. A lot is known about tumor biology. The characteristics of many tumors (but not all) can be predicted based on what is known about that particular kind of tumor.

---DrPam


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