What is Adenocarcinoma? Symptoms and Treatment

by Abbas Jahangir · June 22, 2024

The question of what adenocarcinoma means can be answered as a type of cancer that can be seen in any of the mucus-secreting tissues of the body. Since mucus can be secreted in many organs, adenocarcinoma can be seen in many parts of the body. Adenocarcinoma may be more or less risky for human health depending on the organ it affects. However, the most important factor that determines the level of this risk is early diagnosis and treatment.

What is Adenocarcinoma?

Mucus secretion is very important for the body. Mucus secreted from the glands ensures the proper functioning of the organs and keeps them moist. Mucus constitutes the first defense mechanism of the immune system, which is the body’s defense mechanism, against external influences. Therefore, mucus has a very important place for the human body. Adenocarcinoma can occur almost anywhere in the body, starting from the glands lining the inside of the organs. Places such as colon, esophagus, breast, lung, pancreas or prostate are the organs where adenocarcinoma is commonly encountered. Even if there is no gland tissue, adenocarcinoma can be seen in all cells that can secrete mucus. Benign tumors that can also be seen in glands or epithelial tissues are called adenomas. However, treatment of adenomas should be done without delay. Because although adenomas are benign tumors, they can evolve into malignant tumors called malignant or malignant. As a result of evolution, adenocarcinoma occurs. The colon, also called the large intestine, is one of the important parts of the digestive system. It has a very important role in ensuring that consumed foods are properly eliminated from the body. Adenocarcinoma is the most common type of colon cancer.

The disease can also start in the rectum, which is the part of the large intestine that removes feces from the body. Most breast cancers are adenocarcinomas. The glands where milk production takes place are the starting points of cancer. In the esophagus, adenocarcinoma occurs in the lower part of the esophagus where mucus is produced. Approximately 50 percent of lung cancers are adenocarcinoma. Again, 85 percent of pancreatic cancers are caused by adenocarcinoma. In addition, most cancer cases that occur in the prostate, located just below the bladder in men, are caused by adenocarcinoma.

Adenocarcinoma Symptoms

Symptoms of adenocarcinoma vary depending on the organ where the cancer occurs. Therefore, symptoms need to be evaluated separately. Lung cancers occur when adenocarcinoma occurs in the lung. Although rare, it is among the most dangerous types of cancer. Adenocarcinoma lung cancer survival is considerably higher than in the past. Because with appropriate treatments, the patient can regain his health and continue his life. Common symptoms of lung cancer include:

Continuous and severe cough,
Sputum production during cough,
Bloody sputum accompanying cough,
Hoarseness and wheezing,
Fatigue, loss of appetite and weight,
Pain in the chest.

In addition to all these symptoms, it is possible to see other abnormal symptoms. Another organ affected by adenocarcinoma is the liver. Liver cancer is among the types of cancer that do not show symptoms in the early stages. However, if the disease progresses, the following symptoms may occur:

Nausea and vomiting,
Weakness and body aches,
Loss of appetite and accompanying weight loss,
abdominal pains,
swelling of the abdomen,
Yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes,
The stool is lime colored.

Studies have proven that 90% of stomach cancers are adenocarcinoma. Gastritis is a disease that can occur due to wrong eating habits. If left untreated, it can cause ulcers and stomach cancer. Common symptoms include:

Nausea and related vomiting,
Loss of appetite and weight loss,
Stomach aches and bloating in the abdomen,
Seeing blood in the stool,
blood clotting,
chest pain,
Shortness of breath.

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is a type of cancer that progresses very insidiously. Therefore, no symptoms appear in the early stages. In later stages, the following symptoms appear:

Loss of appetite and resulting weight loss,
Nausea and vomiting,
Body aches, weakness and fatigue,
Enlargement of the liver and gallbladder,
Varicose veins in the legs,
Itching of various parts of the body,
Dark urine color.

Symptoms of colon and rectum adenocarcinoma can be listed as follows:

Disruption of going to the toilet routine,
Frequent blood in the stool,
Dark colored stools,
Both diarrhea and constipation lasting longer than normal,
Appetite and accompanying weight loss,
Gas pain and cramping, abdominal pain.
Body aches, fatigue and accompanying weakness.

Symptoms of prostate adenocarcinoma include:

difficulty urinating,
Pain during urination and accompanying bloody urine,
Feeling of not being able to urinate,
Frequent pain in the groin area,
Difficulty in bladder control and urinary incontinence,
Frequent urination at night while sleeping.

The most common symptoms that occur due to adenocarcinoma are listed as follows. However, in addition to all these symptoms, headaches, neurological problems, visual disturbances, loss of sensation in the joints, arms or legs may be observed.

Adenocarcinoma Treatment

For the treatment of adenocarcinoma, people need to know their bodies well and be examined without delay in case of abnormal situations. Because early diagnosis and early treatment are very important for cancer treatments to be successful. Otherwise, the success rate of the treatments will decrease. Adenocarcinoma life expectancy is prolonged with appropriate treatment and people can continue their normal lives. The type of treatment varies depending on where and how large the adenocarcinoma is. Surgical intervention may be applied for the treatment of adenocarcinoma that is in the initial stage and has not yet spread. With the best removal of cancerous cells, the patient can regain his health. In addition, another commonly used treatment method is chemotherapy. Chemotherapy, which can be applied to the whole body or to a specific area of the body, is the use of certain drugs to destroy cancer cells. In addition to surgery and chemotherapy, radiation therapy is one of the advanced treatment methods applied. Imaging techniques are used during treatment to prevent damage to healthy cells of the body. Instead of directly targeting cancer cells, immunotherapy treatment can be applied to strengthen the body’s immune system. This treatment method alerts the body to abnormal cancer cells. Thus, the immune system attacks cancer cells and tries to destroy these cells.

Since early diagnosis and treatment of cancer diseases is very important, it is very important for health to be examined without wasting time in case of abnormal symptoms.