"benign neoplasms" as a cause of death? how?

Factual Questions
1

Looking at a website of general statistics this place I see that one of the leading causes of death among young people is “benign neoplasms.” How can something called a “benign” anything be a cause of death? What’s the S.D. on this? thanks. xo C.

2

Well, the least you could have done was provide a link, instead of some front-end to it that had no relevant info.

Anyway, IANAD, but I do know that benign brain tumors can be lethal, since the brain is encased, and there’s no room to expand.

Also, there was the case of Madison Smith a couple of years ago. She was a little girl who was suffering from a massive, slow-growing benign tumor that was taking up so much of her abdomen, doctors were at a loss of what to do. I have no idea how that story ended, but here is her story:

http://www.abcnews.go.com/onair/GoodMorningAmerica/000512_Madison_feat.html

3

I’m pretty sure that in medical terms “benign” mainly just means “not cancerous”; this definition of the term from an on-line medical dictionary says benign means “Something that does not metastasise and treatment or removal is curative”. In other words, it won’t spread like a cancer does, and if it is treated or removed, it can be cured (because unlike cancer it won’t spread all over the place), which implies to me that if it isn’t treated or removed, it might still be dangerous.

4

CC is apparently referring to this site, which can be reached from the OP’s cite.

Yes, “benign” doesn’t necessarily mean “harmless,” it just means “not malignant” (i.e., metastasizing).

5

FWIW, although it’s #10 on the list, I wouldn’t call 0.3/100,000 a significant rate.

Note also that the category includes more than just “benign neoplasms” and includes “neoplasms of uncertain behavior and of unspecified nature.” This could well mean that a cancer was present but a specific (histologic) diagnosis was not forthcoming.

In terms of “benign” disease causing death, Earl’s point about brain tumors is right on. Brain tumors are relatively common in children and even though they’re not (usually) cancerous, their deep strategic location may make them both unamenable to resection and lethal.