Papillary Carcinoma

**Semantic type:** Neoplastic Process

**Definition:** A malignant epithelial neoplasm characterized by a papillary growth pattern. A papillary carcinoma may be composed of glandular cells (papillary adenocarcinoma), squamous cells (papillary squamous cell carcinoma), or transitional cells (papillary transitional cell carcinoma). Bladder carcinoma is a representative example of papillary transitional cell carcinoma.