Cellular cannibalism" in oral squamous cell carcinoma refers to a phenomenon
where cancer cells engulf and consume other cells within the tumor, often
considered a marker of aggressive tumor behavior, indicating a high potential
for invasion and metastasis; essentially, the cancer cells "eat" each other to
survive and proliferate in harsh conditions within the tumor
microenvironment. Cannibalism is a completely different entity than
phagocytosis, entosis, and emeriopoliosis. It is an important morphologic
feature to distinguish benign from malignant lesions. Cannibalism has been
described in various cancers such as, bladder cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer,
etc, and this is related with the aggressiveness of the malignancy.
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