An image of a cell, a neoplasm, from the National Institute of Health’s National Library of Medicine, the “Images from the History of Medicine” collection.
A “neoplasm” is an excessive growth of tissue that forms a mass we usually call a tumor. I’m not sure if we should call it a component part of a tumor or a tumor-in-waiting. If it’s malignant, a neoplasm is a cancer, but they’re not always malignant.
I’m not sure what this image is actually of, other than a neoplasm. I can’t tell from the NIH-NLM collection here what year it’s from, either. I just know it’s something that wants to grow.