n.
- a disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of the body.
▸a malignant growth or tumour resulting from such a division of cells.
- something evil or destructive that is hard to contain or eradicate:
the cancer of racism.
Derivative
Etymology
OE, from L., ‘crab or creeping ulcer’, translating Gk karkinos, said to have been applied to tumours because the swollen veins around them resembled the limbs of a crab.