Hamartoma

Common card · No. 394587

A hamartoma is a mostly benign, local malformation of cells that resembles a neoplasm of local tissue but is usually due to an overgrowth of multiple aberrant cells, with a basis in a systemic genetic condition, rather than a growth descended from a single mutated cell (monoclonality), as would typically define a benign neoplasm/tumor. Despite this, many hamartomas are found to have clonal chromosomal aberrations that are acquired through somatic mutations, and on this basis the term hamartoma is sometimes considered synonymous with neoplasm. Hamartomas are by definition benign, slow-growing or self-limiting, though the underlying condition may still predispose the individual towards malignancies. Hamartomas are usually caused by a genetic syndrome that affects the development cycle of all or at least multiple cells. Many of these conditions are classified as overgrowth syndromes or cancer syndromes. Hamartomas occur in many different parts of the body and are most often asymptomatic incidentalomas...

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