What is cancer and why do types of cancer have different names? In this podcast Jon Lund talks to David Semeraro about the origin of types of cancer, the definition of cancer and the definitions of words such as dysplasia, metaplasia, neoplasia and desmoplasia, with examples of each. Essential viewing for any medical student of trainee in surgery of pathology wanting to get to grips with the fundamentals of tumour pathology. David Semeraro is a consultant pathologist at the Royal Derby Hospital, UK and Jon Lund is Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Nottingham