Carcinoma is cancer that develops from skin tissue or tissue that makes up the walls of organs. There are various types of carcinoma with different symptoms. What are the types and how are they treated? Check out the following explanation.
Carcinoma arises when the cells that make up the walls of the body's organs are damaged or have DNA mutations. DNA mutations will cause cells to grow and develop uncontrollably.
What are the Types of Carcinoma?
Carcinoma is a type of cancer that can attack any body tissue, including the skin, breast, lung, and digestive system. Some types of carcinoma that you may often hear include:
Basal cell carcinoma
Basal cell carcinoma is a type of carcinoma that grows and develops on skin that is frequently exposed to sunlight. Symptoms can include red patches, open sores, and shiny pink bumps on the skin. A number of factors can increase a person's risk of developing basal cell carcinoma, such as being fair skin, suffering from autoimmune diseases, having many moles on the body, having a weak immune system, and being exposed to radiation.
Squamous cell carcinoma
This type of carcinoma also often occurs in the skin and can spread to other tissues, such as bone and lymph nodes. Squamous cell carcinoma that occurs on the skin is characterized by the appearance of moles, red bumps or patches that bleed easily when scratched. If they are large, the bumps or moles can be itchy and painful.
Adenocarcinoma
Adenocarcinoma is a type of carcinoma that grows and develops in various organs of the body, especially those that have glands in them, such as the breast, lung, esophagus, colon, pancreas, prostate. Due to the variety of organs that can experience adenocarcinoma, the symptoms that appear are also different.
If adenocarcinoma occurs in the breast, the sufferer can feel a lump that grows very quickly accompanied by symptoms of malignancy, such as changes in breast size, and discharge of fluid and blood from the breast.
Renal cell carcinoma
As the name implies, this carcinoma involves kidney cells that grow and develop uncontrollably. Some of the symptoms that can arise are the presence of blood in the urine (hematuria), the growth of a mass or lump in the kidney. The presence of renal carcinoma is often known when a person undergoes a CT scan or ultrasound.
Sometimes, kidney cell carcinoma is only detected when it is very large, even when the cancer cells have spread to other parts of the body.
Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)
Ductal carcinoma in situ is a type of carcinoma that attacks the ducts (ducts) of the breast. These carcinomas are usually not invasive, but can become invasive. Usually, DCIS carcinoma does not cause symptoms and can only be detected by mammogram examination. Chances of cure will be greater if this condition is detected early.
Invasive ductal carcinoma
This carcinoma grows in the ducts (ducts) of the breast and spreads to the tissues surrounding the breast. After that, the cancer will spread to other parts of the body.
Characteristics that can be seen in patients with invasive ductal carcinoma are swelling and pain in the breasts, nipples that protrude inward, pain in the nipples and breasts, changes in breast size, and even lumps in the armpits can be found.
Carcinoma Treatment
Treatment and management of carcinoma will depend on the location, and how the cancer cells spread. To determine whether a person has carcinoma and how widely it has spread, a series of examinations will be carried out starting from a biopsy, CT scan, X-ray, MRI, and cystoscopy.
There are several treatment options that will be suggested by the doctor, when someone has carcinoma, namely:
- Chemotherapy, which is therapy to kill cancer cells using certain drugs, such as cisplatin and
- Radiotherapy, which is therapy using X-ray radiation to kill cancer cells.
- Surgery, which is surgery to remove cancer cells.
- Immunotherapy, which is therapy to help the immune system fight cancer cells.
- Hormone therapy, which is therapy that aims to slow or stop the growth of cancer cells by using artificial hormones.
The above treatment options will depend on the type and stage of the carcinoma experienced. Immediately consult a doctor if you find symptoms of carcinoma so that treatment can be carried out immediately. Again, the sooner the carcinoma is detected and treated, the better the chances of cure.