A liquid biopsy is a test that looks for signs of cancer in a blood sample, rather than in a piece of tumor tissue. The most common form looks for circulating tumor DNA, usually shortened to ctDNA, which are small fragments of genetic material that a cancer sheds into the bloodstream. By reading these fragments, …
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Pancreatoblastoma is a rare cancer of the pancreas. It is the most common type of pancreatic tumor in young children, usually appearing before the age of 10, with an average age of about 4 to 5 years. It can also occur in adults, although this is uncommon. The tumor is composed of cells that exhibit …
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Acinar cell carcinoma is a rare type of pancreatic cancer. It starts from acinar cells, the cells that make the digestive enzymes the pancreas uses to break down food. Because the tumor cells come from these enzyme-making cells, they often continue to produce pancreatic enzymes. Acinar cell carcinoma can occur at any age, including in …
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Mismatch repair (MMR) and microsatellite instability (MSI) testing tell doctors whether the DNA repair system inside a cancer is working properly. When that system breaks down, cancer cells accumulate many genetic errors, and those errors are exactly what can make the cancer respond to a powerful type of treatment called immunotherapy. The same test matters …
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PD-L1 (programmed death-ligand 1) is a protein that some cancer cells use to hide from the immune system. Testing for PD-L1 is one of the most important biomarkers in advanced cancer of the stomach (gastric cancer) and the gastroesophageal junction (the area where the esophagus meets the stomach), because the result helps determine whether immunotherapy …
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The androgen receptor (AR) is a protein inside prostate cells that receives signals from male hormones called androgens, the most important of which is testosterone. These signals tell prostate cells to grow and divide. Almost all prostate cancers depend on this androgen signal to grow, which is why treatments that lower androgen levels or block …
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Mismatch repair (MMR) and microsatellite instability (MSI) testing tell your doctor whether the DNA repair system inside a prostate cancer is working normally or has broken down. When that repair system fails, cancer cells accumulate many genetic errors, and those errors can make them sensitive to a type of treatment called immunotherapy. The same test …
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Parathyroid carcinoma is a rare cancer of the parathyroid gland. The parathyroid glands are small endocrine organs in the front of the neck that produce parathyroid hormone, which helps regulate blood calcium levels. Parathyroid carcinoma develops when cells in one of these glands grow uncontrollably and invade nearby tissue or spread to other parts of …
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An atypical parathyroid tumor (APT) is an unusual growth of the parathyroid gland. It shows some microscopic features that raise concern for cancer, but does not meet all the criteria needed to diagnose parathyroid carcinoma. For this reason, pathologists describe an atypical parathyroid tumor as a neoplasm of uncertain malignant potential — a growth that …
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Stratified mucin producing intraepithelial lesion, usually abbreviated as SMILE, is a rare precancerous condition of the cervix caused by infection with human papillomavirus (HPV). It is described as having features of both squamous cells (flat cells that line the outer surface of the cervix) and glandular cells (mucus-producing cells that line the inside of the …
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