What Is a Benign Neoplasm?
A benign neoplasm is an abnormal growth or tumor consisting of cells that divide and reproduce independently of the surrounding normal tissue. Cells of a benign neoplasm do not possess the typical characteristics of malignancy. Although the cells in any neoplasm, benign or malignant, tend to proliferate more quickly and last for a longer time than the corresponding normal cells, the benign, neoplastic cells proliferate at a slower rate than malignant cells. Benign neoplasms do not infiltrate and invade the surrounding tissue, although they do expand locally. They do not proliferate in an unrestrained, destructive manner, and they do not spread through the blood stream to distant sites within the body.
