well vs poorly

[mjl1717]

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Can anyone explain the difference between well differentiated and poorly differentiated and give a couple of examples?

 

[Idiopathic]

poorly-differentiated means a tumor cell within an area of tissue that is clearly different from the normal tissue inhabitant of that area. almost always poorer prognosis. glioblastoma multiforme (a poorly-differentiated astrocytoma) is a notable example. poor degree of differentiation correlates with high tumor grade (i.e. Grade 4=GBM)

well-differentiated means a tumor cell that resembles its surrounding cells. no obviousl examples come to mind.

 

[AlexRusso]

poorly differentiated means that the tumor cells closely resemble embyonic cells (i.e. they did not differentiate) This has a poor prognosis b/c the closer cells are to stem cells the more easily they can rpliferate. Think about how easily the first few cells of an embryo proliferate and into how many different tussue types they can develop. As Idio said gliablastoma multiforme is poorly differentiated and on gross sections the tumor cells will not resemble the surronding normal neurons at all.

well differentiated means that the tumor cells are very close to the normal cells that inhabit that region. Lipomas are well-differentiated. Subsequently they very closely resemble normal fat cells and tend to be benign.