metaplasia
Sign in to saveMetaplasia () is the transformation of a cell type to another cell type. The change from one type of cell to another may be part of a normal maturation process, or caused by some sort of abnormal stimulus. In simplistic terms, it is as if the original cells are not robust enough to withstand their environment, so they transform into another cell type better suited to their environment. If the stimulus causing metaplasia is removed or ceases, tissues return to their normal pattern of differentiation. Metaplasia is not synonymous with dysplasia, and is not considered to be an actual cancer. It i
Key facts
- Medical condition (new).name
- Metaplasia
- Medical condition (new).image
- Pancreatic acinar metaplasia - high mag.jpg
- Medical condition (new).caption
- Micrograph of a gastro-esophageal junction with pancreatic acinar metaplasia. The esophageal mucosa (stratified squamous epithelium) is seen on the right. The gastric mucosa (simple columnar epithelium) is seen on the left. The metaplastic epithelium is at the junction (center of image) and has an intensely eosinophilic (bright pink) cytoplasm. H&E stain.
via Wikipedia infobox
Research
86,681 papers- Metaplasia: tissue injury adaptation and a precursor to the dysplasia-cancer sequence.Nature reviews. Cancer · 2017
- Injury, repair, inflammation and metaplasia in the stomach.The Journal of physiology · 2018
- Epithelial metaplasia and the development of cancer.Biochimica et biophysica acta · 2007
- [Endometrial osteoid metaplasia].Revue medicale de Liege · 2022
- Osseous Metaplasia in Juvenile Polyps: Report of Four Cases and Review of Literature.Fetal and pediatric pathology · 2023
via PubMed
~5 min read
Encyclopedic overview
8 sectionsContents
- Causes
- Significance in disease
- Examples
- Intestinal metaplasia
- See also
- Notes
- References
- External links
Metaplasia () is the transformation of a cell type to another cell type. The change from one type of cell to another may be part of a normal maturation process, or caused by some sort of abnormal stimulus. In simplistic terms, it is as if the original cells are not robust enough to withstand their environment, so they transform into another cell type better suited to their environment. If the stimulus causing metaplasia is removed or ceases, tissues return to their normal pattern of differentiation. Metaplasia is not synonymous with dysplasia, and is not considered to be an actual cancer. It is also contrasted with heteroplasia, which is the spontaneous abnormal growth of cytologic and histologic elements. Today, metaplastic changes are usually considered to be an early phase of carcinogenesis, specifically for those with a history of cancers or who are known to be susceptible to carcinogenic changes. Metaplastic change is thus often viewed as a premalignant condition that requires immediate intervention, either surgical or medical, lest it lead to cancer via malignant transformation.
== Causes ==
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “metaplasia” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.