adenocarcinoma

A malignant neoplasm of epithelial cells in glandular or glandlike pattern. SYN: glandular cancer, glandular carcinoma.

- acinic cell a. an a. arising from secreting cells of a racemose gland, particularly the salivary glands. SYN: acinar carcinoma, acinic cell carcinoma.

- alveolar a. a. of the lung in which tumor cells form structures resembling alveoli.

- a. in Barrett esophagus an a. arising in the esophagus that has become lined with columnar cells (Barrett mucosa).

- bronchiolar a. SYN: alveolar cell carcinoma.

- bronchioloalveolar a. SYN: alveolar cell carcinoma.

- clear cell a. 1. a histologic type of renal a.; 2. a histologic type of a. occurring chiefly in the male and female genitourinary tracts that is characterized by distinctive hobnail cell growth of neoplastic cells in sheets, papillae, and coalescing glands.

- mesonephric a. SYN: mesonephroma.

- mucoid a. sometimes applied to mucinous carcinoma, or a. containing mucin secreting neoplastic cells.

- papillary a. an a. containing fingerlike processes of vascular connective tissue covered by neoplastic epithelium, projecting into cysts or the cavity of glands or follicles; occurs most frequently in the ovary and thyroid gland.

- renal a. an a. arising in the renal parenchyma, usually occurring in middle-aged or older people of either sex (although more common in males). SYN: clear cell carcinoma of kidney, renal cell carcinoma.

- a. in situ a noninvasive abnormal proliferation of glands believed to precede the appearance of invasive a.; reported in the endometrium, breast, large intestine, cervix, and other sites.

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ad·e·no·car·ci·no·ma -.kärs-ən-'ō-mə n, pl -mas also -ma·ta -mət-ə a malignant tumor originating in glandular epithelium

ad·e·no·car·ci·no·ma·tous -mət-əs adj

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n.

a malignant epithelial tumour arising from glandular structures, which are constituent parts of most organs of the body. The term is also applied to tumours showing a glandular growth pattern. These tumours may be subclassified according to the substances that they produce, for example mucus-secreting and serous adenocarcinomas, or to the microscopic arrangement of their cells into patterns, for example papillary and follicular adenocarcinomas. They may be solid or cystic (cystadenocarcinomas).

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ad·e·no·car·ci·no·ma (ad″ə-no-kahr″sĭ-noґmə) carcinoma derived from glandular tissue or in which the tumor cells form recognizable glandular structures; adenocarcinomas may be classified according to the predominant pattern of cell arrangement, as papillary, alveolar, etc., or according to a particular product of the cells, as mucinous adenocarcinoma.