Precancerous condition

A precancerous condition is a condition or lesion involving abnormal cells which are associated with an increased risk of developing into cancer. Clinically, precancerous conditions encompass a variety of conditions or lesions with an increased risk of developing into cancer. Some of the most common precancerous conditions include certain colon polyps, which can progress into colon cancer, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, which can progress into multiple myeloma or myelodysplastic syndrome. and cervical dysplasia, which can progress into cervical cancer. Pathologically, precancerous lesions can range from benign neoplasias, which are tumors which do not invade neighboring normal tissues or spread to distant organs, to dysplasia, which involves collections of abnormal cells which in some cases have an increased risk of progressing to anaplasia and invasive cancer. Sometimes the term "precancer" is also used for carcinoma in situ, which is a noninvasive cancer that has not progressed to an aggressive, invasive stage. As with other precancerous conditions, not all carcinoma in situ will progress to invasive disease.