What is Necrosis?
Ann Ainsworth, M.D.: Lymphatic or vascular invasion means that the tumor cells have gotten into the fluid-carrying channels within the breast. Tumors with this kind of invasion are at increased risk for spread beyond the main cancer within the breast, to the lymph nodes, and possibly to other areas of the body. Necrosis in the tumor means that the cancer cells in that area are dead. The pathologic finding of necrosis suggests a fast-growing cancer. This often happens because the tumor runs out of blood supply in the central portion. Without a blood supply, the tumor cells cannot live. When a tumor is necrotic, it may be difficult or impossible to diagnose on a small biopsy, and an additional sample might need to be taken. Tumor necrosis is often focal (limited to a small area) in the region. There are usually living cancer cells nearby that can be diagnosed as cancer using a microscope.
Necrosis is the disorganized breakdown of flesh in some part of the body of a multicellular organism. In an average adult human, between 50 billion and 70 billion cells die off and are replaced every day. However, necrosis refers to cell death that is unprogrammed and results from atypical body conditions – infections, cancer, serious injury, the presence of venom, severe inflammation, and a variety of diseases. One of the most severe forms of necrosis is caused by the brown recluse spider, whose bite can cause necrotic lesions up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) in diameter. When normal cells die off in a process called apoptosis, they send special signals to the janitor cells of the body, phagocytes, which clean them up in an orderly manner. During necrosis, the breakdown is disorganized and chaotic, and phagocytes do not consume the cells in question, nor most of the internal junk released from them as they perish. Every cell has special organelles called lysosomes, which are responsib
