neoplasm

n. a new, abnormal growth; that is, a benign or malignant tumor, although the term is generally used to specify a malignancy (see cancer). A neoplasm usually grows rapidly by cellular proliferation but generally lacks structural organization. A malignant neoplasm is usually invasive, destroying or damaging neighboring normal tissues, and can spread to distant sites by the process of metastasis; benign neoplasms are usually encapsulated and do not spread but may damage neighboring tissues by compression. —neoplastic adj.

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Psychology term of the day

January 11th 2025

polypharmacy

n. the simultaneous use of a variety of drugs of the same or different classes with the intent of producing a more robust therapeutic response. Polypharmacy for mental disorders may, for example, involve the administration of two or more antidepressants in the hope that agents with different mechanisms of action will produce greater clinical improvement than that seen with any one drug alone. Polypharmacy is often criticized because of the lack of well-controlled studies supporting its use and the greater likelihood of adverse drug interactions when two or more drugs are used simultaneously. However, for those individuals unsuccessfully treated with several trials of monotherapy, or for whom monotherapy achieves suboptimal results, polypharmacy may be therapeutically indicated and appropriately managed.