Desmoplasia

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Overview

In medicine, desmoplasia refers to the formation of adhesions or fibrosis (fibrosis refers to scar tissue) in the vascular stroma of a neoplasm. It is usually used in the description of desmoplastic small round cell tumors.

Historical Perspective

Desmoplasia originates from the Greek desmos (meaning fetter or band) and plasia (meaning to form).

Pathophysiology

Usually you only see desmoplasia with malignant neoplasms, which can evoke a fibrosis response by invading healthy tissue.

Infiltrating metastatic ductal carcinomas of the breast often have a scirrous, stellate appearance caused by desmoplastic formations.

Overview