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Cancers are classified by the type of cell that resembles the tumor and, therefore, the tissue presumed to be the origin of the tumor. These are the histology and the location, respectively. Examples of general categories include:

* Carcinoma: Malignant tumors derived from epithelial cells. This group represents the most common cancers, including the common forms of breast, prostate, lung and colon cancer.
* Sarcoma: Malignant tumors derived from connective tissue, or mesenchymal cells.
* Lymphoma and leukemia: Malignancies derived from hematopoietic (blood-forming) cells
* Germ cell tumor: Tumors derived from totipotent cells. In adults most often found in the testicle and ovary; in fetuses, babies, and young children most often found on the body midline, particularly at the tip of the tailbone; in horses most often found at the poll (base of the skull).
* Blastic tumor or blastoma: A tumor (usually malignant) which resembles an immature or embryonic tissue. Many of these tumors are most common in children.

Malignant tumors (cancers) are usually named using -carcinoma, -sarcoma or -blastoma as a suffix, with the Latin or Greek word for the organ of origin as the root. For instance, a cancer of the liver is called ”hepatocarcinoma”; a cancer of the fat cells is called ”liposarcoma”. For common cancers, the English organ name is used. For instance, the most common type of breast cancer is called ”ductal carcinoma of the breast” or ”mammary ductal carcinoma”. Here, the adjective ”ductal” refers to the appearance of the cancer under the microscope, resembling normal breast ducts.

Benign tumors (which are not cancers) are named using -oma as a suffix with the organ name as the root. For instance, a benign tumor of the smooth muscle of the uterus is called ”leiomyoma” (the common name of this frequent tumor is ”fibroid”). Unfortunately, some cancers also use the -oma suffix, examples being melanoma and seminoma.

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