The state in which a body cell loses its distinctive characters and takes on a more primitive form; it occurs, for example, in cancer, when cells proliferate rapidly.
Type of cancerous change in which the cancer cells involved do not resemble the cells from which theyarose. Undifferentiated.
n. a loss of normal cell characteristics or differentiation, which may be to such a degree that it is impossible to define the origin of the cells. Anaplasia is typical of rapidly growing malignant tumours, which are described as anaplastic.
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