Metaplastic Carcinoma

**Semantic type:** Neoplastic Process

**Definition:** A general term used to describe carcinomas arising from epithelial cells that have been transformed into another cell type (metaplastic epithelial cells). A representative example is the adenocarcinoma arising in Barrett esophagus. This term is also used to describe carcinomas in which the malignant epithelial cells show differentiation towards another cell type. A representative example of the latter is the metaplastic breast carcinoma in which the malignant glandular cells show squamous, spindle cell, or chondroid/osseous differentiation.

**Synonyms:** - metaplastic carcinoma