Mesothelioma Lawyers, New York
Adenocarcinoma
Do you know what adenocarcinoma is? It's a kind of cancer you get in certain glandular tissue. Specifically, it occurs in what's called epithelial tissue, such as the skin, the lungs, glands, and various other tissues lining various organs and body cavities.
The epithelium, which is made up of epithelial tissue, is related to some other kinds of tissue, being embryologically derived from the ectoderm, endoderm, and mesoderm.
One of the distinguishing characteristics of adenocarcinoma is that the affected cells are part of a gland. However, contrary to popular belief, it is actually not necessary for the cells to be glandular. If the cells give secretions, that's enough to call the cancer an adenocarcinoma. By the way, yes, this can occur in humans, and no one is safe. You have glands all over your body, and any one of them has the potential to become adenocarcinomic. Sure, they're all different, but adenocarcinoma does not discriminate. It is an equal opportunity cancer.
Since it comes from glandular tissue, you may think that it would look like the gland it came from. Actually, this is only true of the adenocarcinoma is fairly well differentiated. Otherwise, it won't necessarily resemble the parent gland.
If someone thinks they might have an adenocarcinoma but they're not sure, what can be done? A pathologist who specializes in this type of thing should be able to help. With their advanced knowledge and training, they should have no trouble taking a biopsy and staining the sample cells to verify whether a tumor is adenocarcinomic or not. Of course, a malignant tumor means some kind of cancer, any way you look at it.
OK, confession time. I haven't been entirely honest with you up to this point. But my only deception has been not revealing that endocrine gland tumors are an exception. Tumors of the endocrine gland, such as a VIPoma, an insulinoma, and a pheochromocytoma, are usually called neuroendocrine tumors, rather than adenocarcinomas. But does this really matter? It's still cancer.
Just about the only good news is that a glandular tumor could be benign. In that case, it's called an adenoma rather than an adenocarcinoma. And if you have an adenoma, you can usually expect it to just stay there and mind its own business. Adenocarcinomas, on the other hand, often invade other tissues and metastasize.
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