Malignancy or Cancer

To the Editor:— Is malignancy cancer? If it is cancer, why not so name it? Do those who so glibly use the term imagine that they are being more highbrow, or euphemistic? There is no good reason why one should not frankly say cancer, or malignant tumor, or malignant neoplasm, or carcinoma, or sarcoma, whichever term is applicable. There is no excuse for dragging in an abstract term which applies just as well to other severe, and often fatal, diseases. Fashions in usage, of course, determine what gets into dictionaries. Unfortunately, this erroneous usage has already been noted in Webster's New International Dictionary (2nd ed), with the somewhat apologetic comment: "a use regarded by many medical authorities as improper."