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What does moderately diffentiated mean?
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Jun 18, 2010 - 11:07 am
I was reviewing my surgical pathology report and for the first time I noted that it says "Adenocarcinoma of the colon, moderately diffentiated. What does moderately diffentiated mean? I wish they explained some of these medical terms on the reports. |
Joined: Jan 2007
It's either a Typo or a Dumbo by the physician.
The word should have been: differentiation
Excerpt:
"In developmental biology, cellular differentiation is the process by
which a less specialized cell becomes a more specialized cell type. "
Joined: May 2005
Moderately differentiated colorectal adenocarcinoma
Abstract:
Background:
The differences between the metastatic property of moderately (Mod) and well (Wel) differentiated colorectal adenocarcinoma remain unclear. Since Mod is unable to form complete acini, therefore an epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) can occur in that structure. Herein, we hypothesized that Mod metastasizes more easily than the Wel counterparts.
The entire web page
NOTE: I don't know if this is helpful info or not but it does show that they may have used the correct terminology in your report.
-p
Joined: Aug 2009
Yes, they used the right terminology.
Phillieg, thanks for the information. I double checked the Pathology Report and "moderately diffentiated" is the correct terminology. Not sure where John23 was coming from with his "Typo or a Dumbo" comment. If he was trying to be funny or just rude.
Best,
CessnaFlyer
Joined: May 2005
I'm sure he was going for funny
The terminology is confusing at best. I really never look at the pathology reports. It's like trying to read the fine print on a credit card application. I'm sure it's important but I'll be damned if I can REALLY understand it. That's what I pay my oncologist for. I've found John likes to play with words, he's not a rude dude with an attitude
;-)
Joined: Jul 2005
Moderately Differentiated
Hi Cesna - from the NCI site is the following def of differentiation:
differentiation (DIH-fur-EN-shee-AY-shun)
In cancer, refers to how mature (developed) the cancer cells are in a tumor. Differentiated tumor cells resemble normal cells and tend to grow and spread at a slower rate than undifferentiated or poorly differentiated tumor cells, which lack the structure and function of normal cells and grow uncontrollably.
So "moderately differentiated" sounds like they are closer to "differentiated" than to undiff and thus would have possibly a better prognosis.
I actually don't have this info about my case -- have the path report from my liver biopsy done during my colon resection back in 2005, but it says nothing about this - in fact says almost nothing!
Take care,
Joined: Dec 2009
Betsy's right....
Undifferentiated cells grow at a faster rate that moderately and they are definitely not mature cells. They are "mutants" if you will.
They use this type of differentiation to determine prognosis. Mine also says moderately. I have a better chance of survival than those with poorly diff or unclear diff. Well differentiated tumors have the best chance of survival. :)
http://onctalk.com/2007/03/20/tumor-grade-and-prognosis-in-nsclc/
Joined: Jan 2007
Rude ???
Ok, let's do this again.....
Re:
"I was reviewing my surgical pathology report and for the first
time I noted that it says "Adenocarcinoma of the colon,
moderately diffentiated. What does moderately diffentiated mean?"
And the word (assuming it was spelled as you spelled it), is not correct.
The word shouldn't be diffentiated, it should be differentiated ,
and if you tried to look the misspelled word up, you won't find reference to it.
Now..... since we all have a computer and the WWW at hand, if you
were having trouble finding the explanation for that, the misspelling
would be the reason why.
Mistakes are made on reports, and either they're Typos, or what we
called "dumbos", since they're done by those that "never make mistakes".
My radiologist said in her report, that I had a colostomy. I have
an ileostomy, and for medical practices, there's a major, big difference.
Mistakes happen.
Just wondering now..... exactly how was that report spelled?
Did your physician make the mistake, or was it a typo in -your- post?
Sorry if you assumed that I was trying to be rude, it wasn't the case.
Best of health,
John
Joined: Aug 2009
John, life is short and typos happen.
I've earned my living as a professional writer for 40-plus years and I can tell you that I have made more than my share of typos. The more you wight the more typos you make. I could stop writing and never make another type again, or I can accept that I will make typos in the future. I've also come to accept that I will also make mistakes. I guess I could do nothing for the rest of my life and never make a mistake, but then that would be the biggest mistake of all. I haven't proofed this post to see if I make any typos, but the truth is I really don't care.
Joined: Jan 2007
Uhhh oops?
No, I didn't mean -you-, I meant the physician shouldn't allow
a typo to be published on a report to be filed.
I write, and I make mistrakes too, but that's not the point or
apparently the "issue", either.
You asked a simple question with your first post, and I noticed
that you repeated what you said the report said, twice, and both
times the term was spelled incorrectly.
If you were having trouble looking up a medical term your doctor
wrote, and the doc spelled it wrong, it'd be no wonder you couldn't
locate the info.
I was merely pointing that out.
Phil said that the report's terminology was correct, but he was
apparently assuming that you were making a typo, and he simply
ignored that. Unfortunately, that made my remark appear out
of context.
I tried to explain that my radiologist made a major mistake, and
she attempted to write it off as a typo. The fact was, she made
numerous mistakes on the reporting of my CT scan. She corrected
the mistakes that were evident, but can any of the report be trusted?
Had I been rushed to a hospital on a gurney, they'd pull reports,
and if they assumed the report was correct, they would treat me
in a manner to accommodate something I don't have, and ignore
the fact that a patient with an ileostomy has other issues to be
concerned with.
After waiting a year to see what my scans will tell me, I now
might have to have them taken again, or re-read by another
specialist. With all the lil' aches and pains, it worries me that
a "clean report" might be in error.
Soooo.... the bottom line?
We can make "typos", but a professional that is responsible
for your health and well-being? They might make one typo....
after that, it's a "dumbo".
Best wishes,
John
Joined: Aug 2009
John, no problem.
I know you were trying to help and it's appriciated and I see your point about the need for medical reports to be correct. I agree. Thanks. :)
Joined: Apr 2010
Hello
John is trying to help you. Everyone here cares about other people. If John wasn't trying to help, he wouldn't have responded to your post or looked up his old report to find out the word.
Most of us are here to learn or share experiences.
Erin
Joined: Jan 2007
Erin -
Thanks! As you can see, we're all friends here.
Sometimes what we type doesn't seem to make it they way we intend,
and that's a problem of this medium that we can all fall prey to.
All's well that end's well.....
Thanks again, and best wishes!
John
Joined: May 2005
You say
to-mah-to, and I say to-may-to. You say po-tah-to and I say po-tay-to...
Let's call the whole thing off...
Wait! John, did you mean "prey" or "pray"?
Joined: Jan 2007
Phil -
Just a bout of herbal-brain, I guess...
And by the way, it's pronounced: Pa-too-tee
(I -will- be preying for you, check your guitar cases)
Joined: Oct 2009
Hey Phil, blow 'em away with a blast of
"Purple Haze"......good for what ails ya, even if not FDA approved.....
Joined: May 2005
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