A 72 year old man is diagnosed with a 7 cm primary tumor in his colon, which has spread to his liver. Which of the following features indicate that the tumor is malignant?
A. The patients advanced age
B.The location of the primary tumor
C.THe spreading of the tumor
D. THe size of the tumor
Im thinking the size of the TUMOR d?
Yes, you are correct. The size of the tumor suggests malignancy. In general, malignant tumors tend to grow larger in size compared to benign tumors.
To arrive at this answer, you need to understand the characteristics of malignant tumors. Malignant tumors have the ability to invade nearby tissues and spread to other parts of the body, a process known as metastasis. In this case, the tumor has spread from the primary tumor in the colon to the liver, indicating a malignant behavior.
While age, location, and spreading of the tumor (metastasis) can provide important information about the tumor, the size of the tumor is one of the primary factors used to differentiate between malignant and benign tumors. Larger tumors suggest a higher likelihood of malignancy.