precancerous
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of precancerous
1880–85; pre- ( def. ) + cancerous ( def. )
Explanation
A symptom or condition is considered precancerous by doctors if it's likely to turn into cancer if it isn't removed or treated. Most doctors recommend surgically removing precancerous skin growths. Most moles are nothing more than spots of pigment on your skin, but occasionally moles are diagnosed as being precancerous, or containing disordered cells at risk of becoming cancerous. Some precancerous growths never turn into cancer, but the slight risk that they might is usually enough to concern medical experts. Some doctors also use the term precancerous to talk about non-aggressive, early forms of cancer.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Most presidential check-up reports, though, contain details of mundane ailments: "Doctors removed a precancerous skin lesion from the tip of his nose", reads a New York Times report on Bill Clinton's annual checkup from 1996.
From BBC • May 30, 2026
Cervical-cancer rates in the U.S. have dropped significantly since the 1970s thanks to widespread screening for precancerous cells and the rollout of the HPV vaccine.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 5, 2026
The fight Lee is referring to is her diagnosis nine years ago of ductal carcinoma in situ, a precancerous condition that can lead to malignant breast cancer.
From Salon • Aug. 19, 2024
In this way, they were able to detect 100 per cent of all invasive cervical cancer and 93 per cent of all serious precancerous lesions that occurred within a year of sampling.
From Science Daily • Jun. 4, 2024
But with the Pap smear, doctors could detect precancerous cells and perform a hysterectomy, and cervical cancer would be almost entirely preventable.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
