Adenocarcinoma occurs when cells in glandular tissue start growing out of control and can harm other healthy tissues. Cancer that starts in glandular tissue can affect many different parts of the body, including the colon, breasts, lungs, esophagus, and pancreas. It is also the most common type of cancer in the uterus for women and in the prostate for men.
When cancer spreads to other areas, it is called metastasis. It is not unusual for adenocarcinoma to spread from the intestines to the lungs, or from the breasts to the prostate. Depending on the area of the body affected, symptoms can include fatigue, weight loss, or bloody stool or urine (hemochromatosis). It is important to speak with a doctor if you have any of these symptoms.
Symptoms of adenocarcinoma vary depending on the organ or body part that is involved, and can be difficult to spot because they often appear gradually over time. Regular tests like mammograms or a colonoscopy can help detect some adenocarcinoma symptoms, but they are usually not enough to make an official diagnosis. A formal adenocarcinoma diagnosis is made after a sample of tumor tissue has been examined under a microscope.
This can be done through a biopsy, in which a healthcare professional removes a small sample of tissue for testing. Whether this is done using a thin needle or a more invasive method, such as an endoscopy, depends on the type of adenocarcinoma.
For example, if the adenocarcinoma is in the colon, doctors may need to remove an entire section of the large bowel, or even your whole colon. This is done to remove as much of the tumor and surrounding tissue as possible.
Then, doctors can look at the tissue under a microscope to see how deep the cancer has grown into the colon wall and other nearby tissues. This helps them decide if the tumor is adenocarcinoma or another type of cancer, and what treatment is needed.
Adenocarcinoma is more likely to develop if someone smokes or has been exposed to secondhand smoke. It can also happen if someone has certain diseases, such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease. People who have had previous radiation therapy are also at a higher risk of developing adenocarcinoma.
Generally, surgery is the first choice of treatment for adenocarcinoma. The goal is to remove as much of the tumor and surrounding healthy tissue as possible. Sometimes doctors will use other treatments, such as chemotherapy or radiation, in combination with surgery to kill more cancer cells and stop them from spreading. Some adenocarcinoma drugs kill both cancer and healthy cells, while others only target cancer cells. In some cases, doctors may recommend hormonal therapy for cancers that are influenced by hormones, such as in the case of breast or prostate cancer. This involves blocking estrogen or lowering androgen levels to keep cancer cells from growing. Other times, radiation is used on its own to control adenocarcinoma symptoms.
