LUGANSK STATE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF PATH MORPHOLOGY

Epithelial Tumor

Contents I. II. III. IV. What Is an Epithelial Tumor? Classification of epithelial tumor Benign epithelial tumor Malignant epithelial tumor

What Is an Epithelial Tumor?

An epithelial tumor is a cluster of irregularly-shaped cells growing specifically on the outer membrane of an organ, gland or body part. It may or may not be cancerous. Both internal and external organs have a single or multi-layer outer membrane known as an epitheliuma name that stems from the Latin prefix epi which means on top of. The epitheliums of the ovaries and salivary glands are typical areas where an epithelial tumor may be found. These tumors can also grow in the linings of breast tissue, colons, thyroid, and prostate.

If cancerous, an epithelial tumor is called a carcinoma. It is the most typical type of cancer. There are six different classes of cancerous epithelial tumors. The first is adrenocortical carcinomas, which includes any epithelial tumor found in the adrenal glands. Since the adrenal glands are responsible for regulating sex hormones such as estrogen, progesterone and testosterone, an epithelial tumor in this gland can trigger a hormonal imbalance and result in a woman developing superficial male traits and a man developing female traits.

A deeper voice, more facial hair, and enlarged breasts can result from adrenal tumors. Such tumors, which are largely hereditary, also result in an overproduction of cortisol. Adrenal epithelial tumors do not respond well to chemotherapy and must be excised, medical reports suggest. If left to grow, this type of epithelial tumor frequently spreads to the lungs or liver.

The second class of epithelial tumors consists of thyroid tumors. These cancerous growths emerge on the back of the neck in the thyroid gland. Men are more likely than women to be afflicted by this type of tumor. It is typically hard and may interfere with the function of vocal cords.

Nasopharyngeal carcinomas make up the third category of epithelial nodules. Like the thyroid tumor, this is a throat cancer. The general location for these rare growths is the top of the pharynx near the nasal cavity. Melanomas, skin cancers that afflict the cells producing melanin, are another epithelial tumor category. All other kinds of skin cancers make up the fifth class of epithelial tumors; these include squamous cell carcinomas and basal cell carcinomas.

Any other malignant epithelial tumors not included above fall into the sixth miscellaneous class. This last category includes carcinomas of the bronchi, cervix, and lungs. Cancers of the lining of the colon, bladder, and salivary glands are also included in this final catchall category. While primarily a risk for adults, more than 1,000 children are diagnosed with an epithelial tumor each year. The most common kind of epithelial tumors for adolescents are melanomas, adrenal tumors, and thyroid tumors.

Classification of epithelial tumor Benign Malignant

Benign epithelial tumors are subdivided according to their origin from different types of epithelium into the tumors of integumentary epithelium (papillomas), tumors of glandular epithelium(adenoma)
Papilloma has following features

Bening tumor. Origin from the skin and mucous membranes. It looks like a ledge or a bush of branching papillae. Exophytic tumor. Slow growth. The base of the tumor consists of connective tissue containing blood vessels. It is a continuation of subepithelial connective tissue covered with epithelium like. May be hard of soft. Hard papillomasl o c a t e o n t h e s k i n a n d m u c o u s m e m b r a n e s c o v e r e d w i t h m u l t i l a y e r squamous epithelium (mouth, larynx, pharynx). Soft papillomasc o n s i s t o f t h i n f i b e r s w i t h t h i n - w a l l e d v e s s e l s . T h e y a r e c o v e r e d w i t h cylindrical transition or ciliated epithelium, their thin branching papillae can be easily injured and bleed. They grow quickly. They often become malignant turning into cancer.These papillomas are mainly found in the neck of the urinary bladder and in the region of the triangle.
Adenoma

Adenomas from compact organs (liver, adrenal gland) can be made of groups of respectivecells separated from each other by a thin layer of stroma. Thus, the structure of adenomas is similar to that of the original organ, which is the cause of their functional similarity (ability of adenoma cells to produce respective secretes) e.g. adenomas of mucous membranes - mucus, adenomas of eosinophilic cell of the

anteriorlobe of pituitary - somatotropic hormone, medullar layer of adrenal gland - noradrenaline, beta cells of pancreas - insulin, etc. Adenomas have atypical structure, which manifests in absence of ducts, variety of shape,size and location, parenchyma and stroma ratio (fibroadenoma, adenofibroma) in theglandular tubules and vesicles. In some adenomas glandular cavities are widened and form large cavities, cysts filled withserous fluid or mucus. These cyst-like adenomas are called cystoadenomas. Sometimes epithelial growth is so intensive that the papillae invade the walls of flie cyst,involve the peritoneum, produce metastases, relapse, cause cachexia and may cause severconsequences. These adenomas are termed papillary adenocystomas. They develop inovaries, thyroid gland. Adenocystomas may become malignant more frequently than theother adenomas.

Malignant epithelial tumors

Immature, or malignant, tumors of epithelium are also called carcinoma. The term came to usfrom the time of Hippocrates and Galen. Precancerous states: defects of development, including lost embryonic germs, chronicinflammatory diseases, chronic ulcers, disturbed tissue regeneration (abundant granulation,metaplasia, displasia), hormonal hyperplasias, polyposis of mucous membrane, and leukoplakias of the mucous membrane.The morphological classification is based on differentiation of the tumor cells. According to it all cancers can be divided into 3 groups: 1) Poorly-differentiated: small-cell or large-cell, medullar, scirrhus, solid. 2) Well-differentiated: squamous-cell, with keratinization, without keratinization,adenocarcinoma (trabecular, alveolar, papillary, mucous. 3) Special kinds: chorionepithelioma, seminoma, hypernephroid cancer. As to metastases, it is important to know that invasion of the tumor cells in the veins is difficult because they become narrowed. Blood vessels in the tumors look differently. Usually they have thestructure of capillaries. As a rule, vessels in tumors are new structures but they are connected withgeneral circulation. The tumors may be connected with the sources of nutrition in different ways. Themore directly they contact, the more intensive is the growth of the tumor, the more rapidly it producesmetastases (e.g., chorionepithelioma, seminoma, hypernephroid cancer).If both stroma and parenchyma of the tumor are anaplastic, they characterize combinationtumors, termed sarcocarcinomas or carcinosarcomas.Together with tissue and cellular atypism, malignant tumors are characterized by infiltratingtumor growth.Clinical-anatomical practice suggests that tumor, as a rule, does not appear at once, itsdevelopment is preceded by different processes characterized by: 1) prolonged chronic course, 2)association with cell multiplying, 3) failure of conservative treatment.

Reference a. Scribd.com b. Wisegeek.com