| ||Medical Myths || | Cancer's Fine Line Last reviewed by
Faculty of Harvard Medical School on January 13, 2011 By Robert
H. Shmerling, M.D. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center "You
know, sometimes cancer isn't really cancer." The first time I
heard this, just a few years after I'd completed my medical
training, I was shocked. But it's true. The line between cancer
and benign isn't always black and white. Myth: Cancer Is Cancer
Malignant (cancerous) cells have features that are generally
unmistakable: They grow unchecked, have unusual shapes, have an
abnormal number of nuclei (where the DNA is), and can spread to
places they don't belong (metastasize). Pathologists specialists
who examine cells under the microscope train extensively to tell
the difference between malignant and normal cells. But even
experienced pathologists find it difficult to make a sure
diagnosis of cancer. Unless the pathology findings are clear-
cut, a cancer diagnosis isn't always a simple yes or no. Non-
cancerous cells can sometimes l