Meaning & use
dermoid tumor
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountablemedical
A noncancerous growth that contains tissues such as skin, hair, or teeth, most often found in the ovary.
Grammar: Countable; plural is dermoid tumors. Often used with the indefinite article: a dermoid tumor.
Patterns
- a dermoid tumor
- dermoid tumors
- diagnose a dermoid tumor
The doctor found a dermoid tumor on her ovary during a routine scan.
Although dermoid tumors can contain hair and teeth, they are usually benign.
Surgery is often recommended to remove a dermoid tumor.
Word forms
| plural | dermoid tumors |
|---|
Common combinations
- ovarian dermoid tumor
- An ovarian dermoid tumor is the most common type.
- benign dermoid tumor
- The biopsy confirmed it was a benign dermoid tumor.
- remove a dermoid tumor
- Surgeons successfully removed the dermoid tumor.
Synonyms and how they differ
- mature teratoma
- Mature teratoma is the more precise medical term for the same type of tumor; dermoid tumor is a common, slightly less technical name.
Commonly confused: dermoid tumor or dermoid cyst?
dermoid tumor vs dermoid cyst
A dermoid cyst is similar but often refers to a cyst rather than a solid tumor; the terms are sometimes used interchangeably in everyday speech.
Practice
What is a dermoid tumor?
Choose one answer.
A dermoid tumor is typically benign and contains tissues like hair or teeth, most commonly found in the ovary. It is not usually cancerous, not an infection, and not limited to the brain.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dermoid tumor”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.