Apoptosis

A form of cell death. As opposed to necrosis which is typically an abnormal process, apoptosis can be secondary to both normal and abnormal processes. Normal apoptosis is seen in Lymph node germinal centers where the normal B-cells that are not selected undergo apoptosis. Abnormal processes with apoptosis include high grade lymphomas such as burkitt_lymphoma where there is a high rate of mitosis which leads to increased number of cells undergoing apoptosis.