Terminology Question …

Hi Jeff,

I will wait for others to chime in, but when I read of "tumors" I take that to mean a site on an internal organ such as lungs, liver etc where mm cells have travelled to and set up camp and grown into a tumor. This is different from reference to a malignant mole. 

Good quetion you have asked, I look foward to being corrected if I have it wrong.

I've also gotten confused with the terminology. It seems at times that tumors, lesions, and mets are used interchangeably. Is that correct?

Majority of folks posting about new tumors/mets are stage 4 and are talking about internal mets to organs and sometimes they may be referring to subcutaneous tumors which are right under the skin and create lumps but are not moles. Typically when talking about moles, one will either say mole or primary, since the mole we usually mention is the first primary tumor or if someone gets another primary melanoma they could be talking about a second primary mole. Sometimes people get in transit mets which can look like a bunch of moles or spots on the skin that travel from the primary mole area. 

Hope I didn't confuse you more, there's definitely quite a bit of terminology to learn, but in general when you read tumor you're reading about stage 4 metastasis.

When I say "tumors," I am referring to subcutaneous masses. They are not visibile on the skin; some I can feel (like a marble under the skin) and some are too deep to feel. I would also use this term to refer to masses in organs or the brain, but others might use lesions (I've especially heard that use with the brain).