Skip to main content

Uncertain or Unknown Histogenesis Tumors

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Cancer

Definition

Tumors of unknown histogenesis are those in which the normal cell counterpart has not as yet been identified. Recent advances in the molecular understanding of cancer have led to classification of these tumors in terms of differentiation, regardless of their location and the presumed cell of origin.

Characteristics

Tumors are classified as epithelial, mesenchymal, lymphoid, or neuroectodermal depending on their cell of origin. Most tumors show the histopathological features of their normal cellular counterpart and can be classified accordingly. Currently, pathologists are attempting to classify tumors according to their patterns of gene expression and markers of differentiation. An important related discovery is the so-called cancer stem cell, which has the potential to self-renew and form additional cancer cells of a similar phenotype and to give rise to phenotypically diverse cancer cells. These cancer cells can arise from mutational transformation of normal stem cells or...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Fletcher CDM (2013) Diagnostic of tumors, 4th edn. Saunders/Elsevier, Philadelphia, pp 1796–1870

    Google Scholar 

  • Fletcher CDM, Bridge JA, Hogendoorn PCW, Mertens F (2013) WHO classification of tumours of soft tissue and bone. International agency for research on Cancer, Lyon, pp 193–232

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldblum JR, Folpe AL, Weiss SW (2014) Enzinger and Weiss’s soft tissue tumours. In: Malignant soft tissue tumors of uncertain type, 6th edn. Mosby, Philadelphia, pp 1028–1112

    Google Scholar 

  • Pardal R, Clarke MF, Morrison SJ (2003) Applying the principles of stem-cell biology to cancer. Nat Cancer Rev 3:895–902

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

See Also

  • (2012) Alveolar soft part sarcoma. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 150. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_215

    Google Scholar 

  • (2012) Capillary hemangioblastoma. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 640. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_830

    Google Scholar 

  • (2012) Clear cell sarcoma of soft tissue. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 880. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_1209

    Google Scholar 

  • (2012) Epithelioid sarcoma. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 1297. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_1965

    Google Scholar 

  • (2012) Extrarenal rhabdoid tumor. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 1370. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_2078

    Google Scholar 

  • (2012) Extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 1370. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_2079

    Google Scholar 

  • (2012) Myxoid tumors. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 2446. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_3953

    Google Scholar 

  • (2012) Neoplasms with perivascular epithelioid cell differentiation. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 2474. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_4012

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Santiago Ramón y Cajal .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this entry

Cite this entry

y Cajal, S.R., Huguet, P., Romagosa, C. (2015). Uncertain or Unknown Histogenesis Tumors. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_6105-2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_6105-2

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics