The term "cancer" in medicine refers to malignant neoplasms that occur in the human body. To date, many of their species are known, which differ depending on the location, type of tumor and tissue, from which the growth of cancer cells begins .
In this case, whatever the type of malignant tumor, the cells that make up its body are weakly linked to each other, which is why they are easily disconnected and carried with blood flow, settling on different organs and growing in them. This phenomenon is called metastases.
A tumor arising from mutated glandular epithelial cells , which in medicine is defined as adenocarcinoma, is no exception. What is it, what varieties of this pathology exist, and how they manifest themselves, we will discuss further in the article.
Carcinomas - The Most Common Cancer
Researchers found that 85% of all cancers are carcinomas. As you can see, this is a very common type of tumor. Carcinomas are formed from epithelial cells that form the upper layer of the skin and line the inner surface of the gastrointestinal tract, bladder, uterus and all ducts that are found in almost every human organ.
Carcinomas vary depending on the type of epithelial cells where they began to grow. There are four of them:
- squamous cells that form the inner shell of the oral cavity, esophagus or respiratory tract;
- transitional cells lining the bladder and part of the ureter;
- basal cells that make up the skin of a person;
- glandular cells that are residents of all the glands of our body, as well as the stomach, kidneys and ovaries.
Of the latter, an adenocarcinoma is formed, the prognosis and symptoms of which we will consider further. By the way, it can occur in any of the human organs.
What is the difference between differentiated adenocarcinomas
Due to the large number of forms and types of these cancers, they are differentiated (divided) into different subtypes. For example, depending on the composition of the secretory fluid secreted by them, mucus-secretory (mucinous) and serous carcinomas are distinguished. By consistency, differentiated adenocarcinoma can be solid or have cysts (cavities) in its structure.
And in the nose and pharynx, such neoplasms are often similar to ordinary tonsil hypertrophy. True, at the same time, their increase is one-sided, in addition, they are given out by a bright saturated color. The patient feels constant soreness in the throat, and the process of swallowing is difficult for him, as it is accompanied by pain giving in the ear. And when the tumor breaks up , an unpleasant odor appears from the patient's mouth.
Highly differentiated adenocarcinoma: what is it?
Depending on how cancerous cells differ from normal cells, several degrees of their differentiation are shared. So, for example, between highly differentiated cancer cells and their healthy counterparts, the difference is negligible.
The diagnosis of "highly differentiated adenocarcinoma" implies that the polymorphism (change) of the cells appears only in the size of the nucleus (it increases in length). And this, by the way, leads to the fact that this pathology does not manifest itself for a long time, and only with a certain growth of the tumor do the first symptoms of the disease appear.
In the bulk, the described disease manifests itself in the same way as other types of malignant neoplasms: weakness, drowsiness, apathy, lack of appetite, weight loss and a decrease in the number of red blood cells in the blood.
Specific Symptoms of Adenocarcinoma
But since a highly differentiated adenocarcinoma can develop in a variety of organs: the uterus, intestines, stomach, esophagus or mammary glands, some specific signs of the disease are added to the general symptomatology, depending on which organ is affected.
So, a malignant tumor in the uterus will manifest itself with copious discharge during menstruation, constant aching pain in the lower back, the occurrence of uterine bleeding, as well as the formation of endometrial polyps.
A bowel adenocarcinoma (in any segment of the intestine) makes itself felt:
- aching abdominal pain;
- a change in nutritional preferences in a patient
- the appearance in the feces of mucus, a splash of blood, and sometimes even pus;
- the patient’s stomach is swollen;
- there is a constant alternation of diarrhea and constipation.
It is important to take into account that the listed symptoms of the disease in highly differentiated cases manifest themselves in the late stages, which greatly reduces the effectiveness of treatment. This is precisely the insidiousness of this form of cancer.
Symptoms of highly differentiated pulmonary adenocarcinoma
A fairly common diagnosis is adenocarcinoma of the lungs. It is recorded in 60 cases out of 100 oncological diseases affecting this organ. By the way, it is important to note that most often the aforementioned pathology is found in men and already in the early stages it is actively distributed throughout the bloodstream.
A carcinoma can be represented by a small nodule or a tumor that affects the entire organ. It has inherent acinar and papillary (papillary) forms. In the first case, the tumor has mainly a glandular structure with large cells, and in the second case, the papillary, with a multinuclear lining. Both forms are prone to increased mucus formation.
As in all cases of damage to this type of tumor, this process initially proceeds unnoticed. Later lung adenocarcinoma manifested:
- copious sputum production, which over time may contain not only purulent, but also bloody discharge;
- strained cough and fever, not sensitive to the action of antipyretic drugs;
- the patient, as a rule, feels a lack of air and suffers from shortness of breath even in a calm state.
Features of the manifestation of highly differentiated mammary adenocarcinoma
In the mammary gland, the described type of tumor, as in all the cases listed above, initially manifests itself weakly, since the main feature that adenocarcinoma has is a moderate or weak cell mutation. They, as already mentioned, even retain the producing functions of the tissue that formed them.
Therefore, the structure of such a tumor does not visually change the outline of the mammary gland and practically does not interfere with the maintenance of its functioning. But over time, the neoplasm begins to manifest itself more clearly:
- When feeling the breast, an elastic spherical seal is determined.
- The nipple becomes sunken, discharge from it appears.
- The skin on the chest changes color.
- Swelling appears.
- Axillary, subclavian and supraclavicular lymph nodes increase in size.
- In the advanced stage of cancer, a pain symptom appears.
The prognosis of highly differentiated adenocarcinoma
When diagnosing cancer, it is customary to talk about five-year survival. This indicator is usually affected by several factors. These include the size of the tumor, and the depth of its penetration in the affected organ, and, of course, the presence of metastases. An important role in the prognosis is played by concomitant pathologies.
You probably already understood, considering the diagnosis of “highly differentiated adenocarcinoma”, that this is a disease that requires timely diagnosis. Although it has one definite advantage against a background of moderately and low differentiated forms, this pathology lends itself well to treatment, especially in the early stages.
What is the difference between high and moderate differentiated adenocarcinomas
Differentiated moderate adenocarcinoma is similar in course to those processes that occur in the case of its high differentiation. A characteristic difference of this type of pathology is a clearly defined polymorphism of cells. It is already easy to distinguish them from healthy ones, since the number of cells that are in the stage of division and have an atypical structure becomes noticeable.
In addition, a differentiated moderate adenocarcinoma is characterized by a greater severity and a seriously growing risk of all sorts of pathologies and complications. In the body, this type of neoplasm is spread by metastases, which significantly increase the focus of cancer by penetrating lymph and lymph nodes into the current.
It should also be noted that lymphatic metastasis occurs in approximately every tenth variant of this type of adenocarcinoma. In this case, the age of the patient is important, since in patients younger than 30 years of age metastases are not observed.
Low-grade adenocarcinoma: what is it?
The cells underlying tumors with low differentiation are characterized by a primitive degree of development. They are difficult to associate with a specific tissue, which makes it impossible to establish the structure and origin of this neoplasm.
The indicated type of tumor, in contrast to a highly differentiated one that practically does not give metastasis, has the highest malignancy. It increases with high speed and already in the early stages is spread to other organs. Accordingly, this type of pathology has the most unfavorable prognosis for life even in the early stages of the disease.