What Is The Difference Between Sarcoma And Carcinoma?
Sarcoma and carcinoma are two types of cancers. There are a lot of other kinds of cancers, like lymphomas, melanomas, etc. People often get confused with sarcoma and carcinoma.
Sarcomas and carcinomas differ based on various parameters like occurrence, affected cell type, characteristics, available treatment options, etc.
Keep reading further to learn about the difference between sarcoma and carcinoma!
Understanding Sarcoma
Sarcoma is a kind of cancer which affects the connective tissue of the body. Connective tissues are specialised to support and shape other organs and tissues. Blood, bones, muscles, fat, and cartilage are the connective tissues of our body. If the cancer originates in any of these tissues, it is named as a sarcoma. They are rarer than the other types of cancer.
Types of sarcoma
Based on the particular connective tissue affected, sarcoma can be categorised into the following types:
- Osteosarcoma: It originates in the bones. It usually affects teenagers and young adults.
- Liposarcoma: It originates in the fat tissues. It usually affects the cells of the belly, arms and legs, but it can occur anywhere in the body.
- Leiomyosarcoma: Originates in the smooth muscle cells. Smooth muscle cells are involuntary cells of the body that are not in our control, such as muscles used in digestion.
- Angiosarcoma originates in the lining of blood vessels or the lymph vessels. The lymph vessels are a part of the immune system that filters out the blood and clears it from pathogens.
Understanding Carcinoma
Carcinoma is the most common kind of cancer. Usually, most cancers you hear about are carcinomas. They originate in the epithelial cells of the skin, organs, and glands. Lifestyle choices and environmental factors often induce these cancers.
Types of Carcinoma
Carcinoma can be divided into some types. Each type can further have a lot of subtypes.
The following are the common types of carcinomas:
- Adenocarcinoma: It originates in the epithelial cells of the glands. Glands secrete a lot of fluids, which have various functions. Most breast, kidney, prostate, pancreas, and colon cancers are carcinomas.
- Basal cell carcinoma: It affects the basal cells of the epidermis. They are at the bottom of your epidermis and work as a replacement in case the cells in the upper layer die.
- Squamous cell carcinoma: It originates in the squamous cell of the epidermis (top layer of skin). It is mainly induced by UV days from the sun. Basal cell carcinomas are the second most common type of skin cancer.
- Ductal carcinoma in situ originates in the breast’s milk ducts. It defines a state where the cancer still kot spreads to other parts of the duct. Thus, this type of carcinoma is highly treatable.
How Are Sarcomas And Carcinomas Diagnosed?
Several tests can determine the stage and type of cancer. Some tests provide a preliminary diagnosis based on which more advanced tests can be used to arrive at a diagnosis. The following are the standard tests used to diagnose sarcomas and carcinomas:
- Physical exam: The primary way to get a cancer check-up is by consulting a doctor. The doctor will first examine the suspected symptom area. The doctors look for swelling, redness, a lump, etc. The doctors may prescribe some other cancer detection tests based on primary observations.
- Biopsy: The most definitive way to diagnose a sarcoma, carcinoma, or any cancer is a biopsy. A sample of the suspected cancerous tissue is taken for microscopic and histopathological analysis. Endoscopies are mainly used to take samples for biopsy.
- Imaging tests: CT, MRI, PET scans and ultrasounds can be used to identify the type of cancer. They can provide information regarding the size and precise location of the tumour.
How Are Sarcoma And Carcinoma Treated?
Treatment options are often similar for sarcomas and carcinomas. The precise use of treatments can differ for both types.
The following are the commonly used treatments:
- Surgery: One of the most widely used treatment options for sarcoma and carcinoma is surgery. Doctors usually try to remove all tumorous growth from the primary tissue.
However, it is not always possible to remove the cancer entirely without affecting vital nerves and cells. In this case, the doctors try to remove as much cancer as they can. The rest of the cancer cells may be treated by radiation or chemotherapy.
Treating sarcoma by surgery is often more complex than carcinoma. This is due to the deep location of connective tissues where the cancer is present in sarcomas.
- Radiation Therapy: High-energy rays are used to destroy the DNA of the cancer cells. Radiation therapy can be used for sarcomas and carcinomas.
It is highly used in carcinomas and is a very effective treatment option. In the case of sarcomas, the effectiveness of radiation therapy can vary in size and type.
- Chemotherapy: Highly potent anti-cancer drugs are used to kill the tumour. These drugs can be administered either orally or through an IV infusion. Carcinomas are widely treated by chemotherapy. However, sarcomas respond variable to chemotherapies.
- Targeted therapy: Non-specificity is a significant limitation of traditional cancer treatments like chemo and radiation therapy. Targeted therapies involve drugs targeting enzymes and proteins essential for cancer growth.
- There are limited targeted therapy options for sarcomas. However, targeted therapies for carcinoma are widely available and effective.
- Immunotherapy: Your body’s immune system can naturally target cancer cells. Sometimes, these cancer cells hide deep into tissues or mutate to tackle the natural immune system.
Immunotherapy aims to use drugs to boost the immune system and improve its efficiency in targeting cancer cells. Various immunohtelries can treat carcinomas. There are not many Immunotherapy options available for sarcomas.
Frequently Asked Questions
Carcinomas are easier to treat as there are many treatment options.
Yes. While it’s rare, sarcoma and carcinoma can affect an individual simultaneously. These conditions require specialised treatment.
There is no clear answer to this. Depending on various parameters, both types can be easy to treat or fatal.
References
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/sarcoma
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/soft-tissue-sarcoma/detection-diagnosis-staging/how-diagnosed.html
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/screening/screening-tests
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/types-of-carcinoma
https://www.cancercenter.com/community/blog/2023/08/carcinoma-vs-sarcoma
