One thought on “Q: Is necrosis and, as you call it, oncosis the exact same thing? And if so – why are there two names?”
Yes, necrosis and oncosis are two names for exactly the same type of cell death. Currently the term necrosis is associated to both cell death and macroscopic observable cell death in tissues and organs. To avoid much confusion there are good reasons to limit the term necrosis to for example caseous, liquefactive, coagulation and other forms of tissue necrosis. Also, “necrosis” is a 3000 years old word associated to cell death that could be seen with the naked eye (gangrene). To separate mechanisms of death in an individual cell from tissue morphology, it has been suggested only to associated the term necrosis to the latter phenomenon. Oncosis also means to swell, and that is exactly what is seen in the necrotic type of cell death – making oncosis a much better term for this form of cell death.
Yes, necrosis and oncosis are two names for exactly the same type of cell death. Currently the term necrosis is associated to both cell death and macroscopic observable cell death in tissues and organs. To avoid much confusion there are good reasons to limit the term necrosis to for example caseous, liquefactive, coagulation and other forms of tissue necrosis. Also, “necrosis” is a 3000 years old word associated to cell death that could be seen with the naked eye (gangrene). To separate mechanisms of death in an individual cell from tissue morphology, it has been suggested only to associated the term necrosis to the latter phenomenon. Oncosis also means to swell, and that is exactly what is seen in the necrotic type of cell death – making oncosis a much better term for this form of cell death.