The case study is of an 82-year-old man with a complaint of abdominal discomfort and a considerable loss of appetite as well as loss of weight, general weakness and frequent nausea. With a diagnosis of ductal adenocarcinoma, a variation of pancreatic cancer, the most common sites when it comes to metastasis would be the lining within the ducts of the pancreas, bones and lungs as well as the liver and lymph nodes (Anderson et al., 2021). These are considered to cover close to 60% of the reported cases of the condition.
Tumor cell markers are defined as being anything contained in or produced by cancer cells that can provide a descriptive function about the cancer type. This also extends to things produced by other cells within the body that do this as a general response to the presence of the cancerous cells and does not necessarily just have to be the cancer cells reacting (Sarantis et al., 2020). They are ordered for pancreatic patients because tumor cell markers can provide a lot of information concerning the cancer type. For instance, the tumor marker referred to as CA 19-9 and it helps to describe a pancreatic malignant situation.
Using the TNM Stage Classification, the patient in the case study has a cancer classification of T4N1M0 which is considered to be Stage III (Sarantis et al., 2020). There are a variety of reasons as to why classification is important. A simple one is that the staging allows the physician to know how aggressive the cancer is and what the suitable treatment module will be to start with. The treatments for cancer are numerous and choosing an appropriate one early on can go a long way to increasing chances of recovery. It also helps determine if the patient needs palliative care if the cancer is too aggressive at this point.
Malignant tumors are primarily characterized by having a rapid and uncontrolled growth cycle as well as an increased loss of differentiation, in addition to having poor boundaries as well as the capacity to tear away from the tumor site and move within the body (Anderson et al., 2021). This can be locally or within the blood stream of the patient. Their function becomes altered and they end up invading the surrounding cells as the metastasize and move within the circulatory system meaning if aggressive enough they can extend deep within the body. It can lead to multiple proliferation sites as the cancer spreads throughout.
In the event a tumor metastasizes, the carcinogenic phase at this point will be found in the third stage. This point is referred to as the progression stage and it will see the tumor invade other cells as it moves away from its original site and then subsequently spreads (Principe et al., 2021). It will have increased resistance to pharmacological interventions and is deemed the last stage. It is irreversible.
With regards to the case in question, the tissue level that has been affected would be the epithelial tissue (Principe et al., 2021). The categorization of the tumor under adenocarcinoma is what shows that the epithelium is what is most affected.
Anderson, E. M., Thomassian, S., Gong, J., Hendifar, A., & Osipov, A. (2021). Advances in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma treatment. Cancers, 13(21), 5510.
Principe, D. R., Underwood, P. W., Korc, M., Trevino, J. G., Munshi, H. G., & Rana, A. (2021). The current treatment paradigm for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and barriers to therapeutic efficacy. Frontiers in Oncology, 11, 688377.
Sarantis, P., Koustas, E., Papadimitropoulou, A., Papavassiliou, A. G., & Karamouzis, M. V. (2020). Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: Treatment hurdles, tumor microenvironment and immunotherapy. World journal of gastrointestinal oncology, 12(2), 173.
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