Adenocarcinoma

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Adenocarcinoma
Histopathology of typical features of adenocarcinoma on H&E stain, but in reality the visual features vary substantially, both by subtypes of adenocarcinoma as well as between individual cases.
SpecialtyOncology, Pathology
serous tumors
as well.

Adenocarcinoma

invasive ductal carcinoma, the most common form of breast cancer, is adenocarcinoma but does not use the term in its name—however, esophageal adenocarcinoma does to distinguish it from the other common type of esophageal cancer
, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Several of the most common forms of cancer are adenocarcinomas, and the various sorts of adenocarcinoma vary greatly in all their aspects, so that few useful generalizations can be made about them.

In the most specific usage, the glandular origin or traits are

benign form of such tumors. Sometimes adenomas transform
into adenocarcinomas, but most do not.

Well-

pathologist can determine whether the tumor is an adenocarcinoma or some other type of cancer. Adenocarcinomas can arise in many tissues of the body owing to the ubiquitous nature of glands within the body, and, more fundamentally, to the potency
of epithelial cells. While each gland may not be secreting the same substance, as long as there is an exocrine function to the cell, it is considered glandular and its malignant form is therefore named adenocarcinoma.

Histopathology

colon cancer

Examples of cancers where adenocarcinomas are a common form:

Breast

Most breast cancers start in the ducts or lobules, and are adenocarcinomas. The three most common histopathological types collectively represent approximately three-quarters of breast cancers:

Colon

Gross appearance of an opened colectomy specimen containing two adenomatous polyps (the brownish oval tumors above the labels, attached to the normal beige lining by a stalk) and one invasive colorectal carcinoma
(the crater-like, reddish, irregularly-shaped tumor located above the label)
Histopathology of well-, moderately and poorly differentiated colorectal adenocarcinoma.

The vast majority of

goblet cells and water-absorbing cells. These glands secrete mucus into the lumen of the colon to lubricate the feces as they pass towards the rectum.[7]

When these glands undergo a number of changes at the genetic level, they proceed in a predictable manner as they move from benign to an invasive, malignant colon cancer. In their research paper "Lessons from Hereditary Colorectal Cancer", Vogelstein, et al., suggested that colon cells lose the

DCC gene and of p53 result in a malignant adenocarcinoma.[8]

There will be a mass of a different color to the surrounding tissue. Bleeding from the tumor is often apparent as the tumor tends to grow blood vessels into it in a haphazard manner via secretion of a number of

nucleoli. There will also be a noticeable increase in the incidence of mitosis, or cell divisions.[citation needed
]

Lung

Pie chart showing incidence of adenocarcinoma of the lung (shown in yellow) as compared to other lung cancer types, with fractions of non-smokers versus smokers shown for each type[9]

Nearly 40% of lung cancers are adenocarcinomas, which usually originates in peripheral lung tissue.

bronchioloalveolar carcinoma, is more common in female never-smokers, and may have a better long-term survival.[13]

This cancer usually is seen peripherally in the lungs, as opposed to

squamous cell lung cancer, which both tend to be more centrally located.[14][15]

Other

See also

References

  1. ^ From adeno-, "gland" and karkin(o)-, "cancerous" and -oma, "tumor".
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  6. ^
    PMID 19454615.. These are divided by total breast cancer incidence (211,300 invasive and 55,700 in situ cases) as reported from Breast Cancer Facts & Figures 2003–2004 "Breast Cancer Facts & Figures 2003-2004". Archived from the original
    on 2009-04-15. Retrieved 2010-06-15.
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  9. ^ Smokers defined as current or former smoker of more than 1 year of duration. See image page in Commons for percentages in numbers. Reference:
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  14. . 8th edition.
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External links