Cell or Molecular Dysfunction
metaplasia Audio
met·a·pla·sia [ met-uh-pley-zhuh, -zhee-uh ]
Subclass of:
Pathologic Processes
Etymology:
Greek metaplasis = transformation; from meta = away from plasis = formation
Used of a change in the character of a tissue.
Definitions related to metaplasia:
  • A change of cells to a form that does not normally occur in the tissue in which it is found.
    NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms
    U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
  • A condition in which there is a change of one adult cell type to another similar adult cell type.
    NLM Medical Subject Headings
    U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2025
  • Conversion of a mature, normal cell or groups of mature cells to other forms of mature cells.
    CDISC Terminology
    Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC), 2021
  • Transformation of a mature, normal cell or groups of mature cells to other forms of mature cells. The capacity for malignant transformation of metaplastic cells is a subject of controversy.
    NCI
    U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
  • Transformation of a normal to a similar but abnormal mature cell type.
    CRISP Thesaurus
    National Institutes of Health, 2006
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This content should not be used in place of medically-reviewed decision support reference material or professional medical advice. Some terms may have alternate or updated definitions not reflected in this set. The definitions on this page should not be considered complete or up to date.