OnCo
termsTerm

Adenocarcinoma

aka adenocarcinomas, glandular, ductal adenocarcinoma, mucinous adenocarcinoma, signet ring, signet-ring, invasive lobular carcinoma, lobular, ductal

Cancer that arises from gland-forming cells, the kind that line organs and make mucus or other secretions. It is the commonest type of lung, colon, pancreatic, prostate, stomach and breast cancer.

Adenocarcinomas form gland-like structures and often produce mucin. Subtypes (ductal vs lobular in breast, intestinal vs diffuse in stomach, mucinous, signet-ring, micropapillary) carry different prognoses and spread patterns. In lung cancer, adenocarcinoma (about half of cases, the main type in never-smokers) is where targetable drivers (EGFR, ALK, KRAS, ROS1, RET) cluster, so histology triggers genomic testing. 'Adenocarcinoma of unknown primary' is worked up with immunohistochemistry (CK7/CK20, TTF-1, CDX2) to infer the organ of origin.

Category
Pathology & biomarkers

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