Carcinoma

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Carcinoma, cancer that develops in the inner and outer surfaces of the body, such as the skin, the lining of the gastrointestinal tract, the inside of blood vessels, and the lungs. Like all cancers, carcinomas are malignant tumors in which cells grow uncontrollably, eventually crowding out normal cells. Also, like other cancers, carcinomas often spread to other areas of the body or metastasize via the blood or lymphatic system. Different kinds of carcinomas include breast cancer, cervical cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, liver cancer, and skin cancer.

Carcinoma is one of four types of cancer. The other types are cancer in muscle, connective, or bone tissue (sarcoma), cancer in blood forming, or vascular, tissues (lymphoma, leukemia, and myeloma), and cancer in nerve tissues (neuroma, glioma, and neuroblastoma).

Diagnostic techniques include endoscopy, pap test, blood tests, biopsy, and imaging techniques such as X rays, CT scans (X rays that give a three-dimensional image), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and ultrasound imaging.

The most common cancer treatments are surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Since chemotherapy kills some normal cells at the same time that it kills cancerous ones, it can cause many side effects, including hair loss, mouth sores, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue. People undergoing chemotherapy are especially susceptible to infection because the drugs severely limit the effectiveness of the immune system. Side effects of radiation may include hair loss, nausea, loss of appetite, and moderate to extreme fatigue.

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