Question

Anaplasia is

• A. Changing one type of epithelium to another
• B. Nuclear chromatin
• C. Lack of differentiation
• D. Morphological changes

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Break down the word - ana (backward) plasia (formation) implies cells losing their mature form. Step 2: Functionally this means the neoplastic cells fail to differentiate and no longer resemble the tissue they came from. Step 3: Such anaplastic cells look primitive and are the strongest morphological marker of malignancy, accompanied by pleomorphism and atypical mitoses. Step 4: Do not confuse it with metaplasia (one mature epithelium replaced by another), so the precise meaning of anaplasia is lack of differentiation.\[\boxed{\text{Lack of differentiation}}\]