Embryonal tumor is a mass of rapidly growing cells. It is believed that it begins in embryo

Embryo

An embryo is a multicellular diploid eukaryote in its earliest stage of development, from the time of first cell division until birth, hatching, or germination...

nic (fetal) tissue. Embryonal tumors may be benign

Benign

A benign tumor is a tumor that lacks the ability to metastasize. Common examples of benign tumors include moles and uterine fibroids.The term "benign" implies a mild and nonprogressive disease. Indeed, many kinds of benign tumors are harmless to human health...

 or malignant

Malignant

Malignancy is the tendency of a medical condition, especially tumors, to become progressively worse and to potentially result in death. Malignancy in cancers is characterized by anaplasia, invasiveness, and metastasis...

, and include neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid cancer in childhood and the most common cancer in infancy, with an annual incidence of about 650 cases per year in the US , and 100 cases per year in the UK . Close to 50 percent of neuroblastoma cases occur in children younger than two years old...

s and Wilms tumors. Also called embryoma. Embryomas have been defined as: "Adult neoplasms expressing one or more embryo-exclusive genes", in: "Embryoma Gene Networks", http://www.embryomas.net

Embryomas can appear in the lungs.

It is not a precise term, and it is not commonly used in modern medical literature. Embryomas have been defined as: "Adult neoplasms expressing one or more embryo-exclusive genes".

External links

• Embryonal tumor entry in the public domain NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms