Endophytic

What does endophytic mean?

Pathologists use the term endophytic to describe an abnormal area of tissue that is growing down from the surface of the tissue into the organ or tissue below. This pattern of growth can be seen when the tissue is examined under a microscope. Pathologists use the word endophytic to describe both non-cancerous growths and cancerous tumours. Pathologists sometimes use the word ‘inverted’ to describe an endophytic pattern of growth. The opposite of endophytic is exophytic.

Endophytic is not a diagnosis by itself. It is a description of the changes seen under the microscope. The word endophytic should be considered together with the other information in your pathology report such as the types of cells in the growth and the size.