While cancer is generally considered a disease of old age, children can also develop cancer. In contrast to adults, carcinomas are exceptionally rare in children..

The two biggest risk factors for ovarian carcinoma are age and family history.

Staging of carcinoma refers to the process of combining physical/clinical examination, pathological review of cells and tissues, surgical techniques, laboratory tests, and imaging studies in a logical fashion to obtain information about the size of the neoplasm and the extent of its invasion and metastasis.

Carcinomas are usually staged with Roman numerals. In most classifications, Stage I and Stage II carcinomas are confirmed when the tumor has been found to be small and/or to have spread to local structures only. Stage III carcinomas typically have been found to have spread to regional lymph nodes, tissues, and/or organ structures, while Stage IV tumors have already metastasized through the blood to distant sites, tissues, or organs.

In some types of carcinomas, Stage 0 carcinoma has been used to describe carcinoma "in situ", and occult carcinomas detectable only via examination of sputum for malignant cells (in lung carcinomas).

In more recent staging systems, substages (a, b, c) are becoming more commonly used to better define groups of patients with similar prognosis or treatment options.

Carcinoma stage is the variable that has been most consistently and tightly linked to the prognosis of the malignancy.

The criteria for staging can differ dramatically based upon the organ system in which the tumor arises. For example, the colon and bladder cancer staging system relies on depth of invasion, staging of breast carcinoma is more dependent on the size of the tumor, and in renal carcinoma, staging is based on both the size of the tumor and the depth of the tumor invasion into the renal sinus. Carcinoma of the lung has a more complicated staging system, taking into account a number of size and anatomic variables.

The UICC/AJCC TNM systems are most often used. For some common tumors, however, classical staging methods (such as the Dukes classification for colon cancer) are still used.

Imaging studies such as X-rays, computed tomography scans, or MRI may be required to diagnose clear-cell sarcoma together with a physical exam. Normally a biopsy is also necessary. Furthermore, a chest CT, a bone scan and positron emission tomography (PET) may be part of the tests in order to evaluate areas where metastases occur.

The following methods are employed in the treatment of basal-cell carcinoma (BCC):

Because of its rarity, there have been no randomized clinical trials of treatment of GCCL, and all information available derives from small retrospective institutional series or multicenter metadata.

Giant-cell lung cancers have long been considered to be exceptionally aggressive malignancies that grow very rapidly and have a very poor prognosis.

Many small series have suggested that the prognosis of lung tumors with giant cells is worse than that of most other forms of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), including squamous cell carcinoma, and spindle cell carcinoma.

The overall five-year survival rate in GCCL varies between studies but is generally considered to be very low. The (US) Armed Forces Institute of Pathology has reported a figure of 10%, and in a study examining over 150,000 lung cancer cases, a figure of 11.8% was given. However, in the latter report the 11.8% figure was based on data that included spindle cell carcinoma, a variant which is generally considered to have a less dismal prognosis than GCCL. Therefore, the likely survival of "pure" GCCL is probably lower than the stated figure.

In the large 1995 database review by Travis and colleagues, giant-cell carcinoma has the third-worst prognosis among 18 histological forms of lung cancer. (Only small-cell carcinoma and large-cell carcinoma had shorter average survival.)

Most GCCL have already grown and invaded locally and/or regionally, and/or have already metastasized distantly, and are inoperable, at the time of diagnosis.

Basal-cell carcinoma is a common skin cancer and occurs mainly in fair-skinned patients with a family history of this cancer. Sunlight is a factor in about two-thirds of these cancers; therefore, doctors recommend sunscreens with at least SPF 30. One-third occur in non-sun-exposed areas; thus, the pathogenesis is more complex than UV exposure as "the" cause.

The use of a chemotherapeutic agent such as 5-Fluorouracil or imiquimod, can prevent development of skin cancer. It is usually recommended to individuals with extensive sun damage, history of multiple skin cancers, or rudimentary forms of cancer (i.e., solar keratosis). It is often repeated every 2 to 3 years to further decrease the risk of skin cancer.

Diagnosis is confirmed via biopsy of the tissue(s) suspected to be affected by SCC. For the skin, look under skin biopsy.

The pathological appearance of a squamous cell cancer varies with the depth of the biopsy. For that reason, a biopsy including the subcutaneous tissue and basalar epithelium, to the surface is necessary for correct diagnosis. The performance of a shave biopsy (see skin biopsy) might not acquire enough information for a diagnosis. An inadequate biopsy might be read as actinic keratosis with follicular involvement. A deeper biopsy down to the dermis or subcutaneous tissue might reveal the true cancer. An excision biopsy is ideal, but not practical in most cases. An incisional or punch biopsy is preferred. A shave biopsy is least ideal, especially if only the superficial portion is acquired.

The long-term outcome of squamous cell carcinomas is dependent upon several factors: the sub-type of the carcinoma, available treatments, location(s) and severity, and various patient health-related variables (accompanying diseases, age, etc.). Generally, the long-term outcome is positive, as less than 4% of Squamous cell carcinoma cases are at risk of metastasis. Some particular forms of squamous cell carcinomas have a higher mortality rate. One study found squamous cell carcinoma of the penis had a much greater rate of mortality than some other forms of squamous cell carcinoma, that is, about 23%, although this relatively high mortality rate may be associated with possibly latent diagnosis of the disease due to patients avoiding genital exams until the symptoms are debilitating, or refusal to submit to a possibly scarring operation upon the genitalia. Squamous cell carcinoma occurring in the organ transplant population is also associated with a higher risk of mortality.

Staging of c-SCLC patients is usually performed in an analogous fashion to patients with "pure" small cell lung carcinoma.

For several decades, SCLC has been staged according to a dichotomous distinction of "limited disease" (LD) "vs." "extensive disease" (ED) tumor burdens. Nearly all clinical trials have been conducted on SCLC patients staged dichotomously in this fashion. LD is roughly defined as a locoregional tumor burden confined to one hemithorax that can be encompassed within a single, tolerable radiation field, and without detectable distant metastases beyond the chest or supraclavicular lymph nodes. A patient is assigned an ED stage when the tumor burden is greater than that defined under LD criteria — either far advanced locoregional disease, malignant effusions from the pleura or pericardium, or distant metastases.

However, more recent data reviewing outcomes in very large numbers of SCLC patients suggests that the TNM staging system used for NSCLC is also reliable and valid when applied to SCLC patients, and that more current versions may allow better treatment decisionmaking and prognostication in SCLC than with the old dichotomous staging protocol.

Treatment depends upon the site and the extent of the disease. Clear cell sarcoma is usually treated with surgery in the first place in order to remove the tumor. The surgical procedure is then followed by radiation and sometimes chemotherapy. Few cases of clear cell sarcoma respond to chemotherapy. Several types of targeted therapy that may be of benefit to clear cell sarcoma patients are currently under investigation.

a) Surgical resection is mainstay of treatment, whenever possible. If tumor is completely removed, post-operative radiation therapy is typically not needed since acinic cell is considered a low-grade histology. Post-operative radiation therapy for acinic cell carcinoma is used if: 1) margins are positive, 2) incomplete resection, 3) tumor invades beyond gland, 4) positive lymph nodes.

b) Neutron beam radiation

c) Conventional radiation

d) Chemotherapy

In most series, LCLC's comprise between 5% and 10% of all lung cancers.

According to the Nurses' Health Study, the risk of large cell lung carcinoma increases with a previous history of tobacco smoking, with a previous smoking duration of 30 to 40 years giving a relative risk of approximately 2.3 compared to never-smokers, and a duration of more than 40 years giving a relative risk of approximately 3.6.

Another study concluded that cigarette smoking is the predominant cause of large cell lung cancer. It estimated that the odds ratio associated with smoking two or more packs/day for current smokers is 37.0 in men and 72.9 in women.

The diagnosis of renal medullary carcinoma is typically made after individuals with sickle cell trait present with the typical signs and symptoms outlined above, in combination with radiographic imaging (usually abdominal/pelvic CT scan) studies and ultimately surgical biopsy and pathological examination of the tumor. Findings on radiographic examination are non-specific and can reveal a mass deep within the kidney. Histopathology studies show a distinctive pattern that can be distinguished from other renal tumors.

Reliable comprehensive incidence statistics for c-SCLC are unavailable. In the literature, the frequency with which the c-SCLC variant is diagnosed largely depends on the size of tumor samples, tending to be higher in series where large surgical resection specimens are examined, and lower when diagnoses are based on small cytology and/or biopsy samples. Tatematsu "et al." reported 15 cases of c-SCLC (12%) in their series of 122 consecutive SCLC patients, but only 20 resection specimens were examined. In contrast, Nicholson "et al." found 28 c-SCLC (28%) in a series of 100 consecutive resected SCLC cases. It appears likely, then, that the c-SCLC variant comprises 25% to 30% of all SCLC cases.

As the incidence of SCLC has declined somewhat in the U.S. in recent decades, it is likely that c-SCLC has also decreased in incidence. Nevertheless, small cell carcinomas (including the c-SCLC variant) still comprise 15–20% of all lung cancers, with c-SCLC probably accounting for 4–6%. With 220,000 cases of newly diagnosed lung cancer in the U.S. each year, it can be estimated that between 8,800 and 13,200 of these are c-SCLC.

In a study of 408 consecutive patients with SCLC, Quoix and colleagues found that presentation as a solitary pulmonary nodule (SPN) is particularly indicative of a c-SCLC — about 2/3 of their SPN's were pathologically confirmed to be c-SCLC's containing a large cell carcinoma component.

Prognosis is good for acinic cell carcinoma of the parotid gland, with five-year survival rates approaching is 90%, and 20-year survival exceeding 50%. Patients with acinic cell carcinomas with high grade transformation (sometimes also called dedifferentiation) have significantly worse survival.

The prognosis of an acinic cell carcinoma originating in the lung is much more guarded than cases of this rare histotype occurring in most other organs, but is still considerably better than for other types of lung cancer.

LCC is, in effect, a "diagnosis of exclusion", in that the tumor cells lack light microscopic characteristics that would classify the neoplasm as a small-cell carcinoma, squamous-cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, or other more specific histologic type of lung cancer.

LCC is differentiated from small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) primarily by the larger size of the anaplastic cells, a higher cytoplasmic-to-nuclear size ratio, and a lack of "salt-and-pepper" chromatin.

Two cell types can be seen microscopically in synovial sarcoma. One fibrous type, known as a spindle or sarcomatous cell, is relatively small and uniform, and found in sheets. The other is epithelial in appearance. Classical synovial sarcoma has a biphasic appearance with both types present. Synovial sarcoma can also appear to be poorly differentiated or to be monophasic fibrous, consisting only of sheets of spindle cells. Some authorities state that, extremely rarely, there can be a monophasic epithelial form which causes difficulty in differential diagnosis. Depending on the site, there is similarity to biphenotypic sinonasal sarcoma, although the genetic findings are distinctive.

Like other soft tissue sarcomas, there is no universal grading system for reporting histopathology results. In Europe, the Trojani or French system is gaining in popularity while the NCI grading system is more common in the United States. The Trojani system scores the sample, depending on tumour differentiation, mitotic index, and tumour necrosis, between 0 and 6 and then converts this into a grade of between 1 and 3, with 1 representing a less aggressive tumour. The NCI system is also a three-grade one, but takes a number of other factors into account.

MTSCC can be a difficult diagnosis due to its morphologic heterogeneity. Several morphological variants have been described, as the ‘‘mucin-poor variants’’, showing a predominance of tubular or spindle cell components and only minimal pale mucinous background.

Focal papillations or papillary cores and foamy histiocytes can also be seen, creating confusion with type 1 papillary RCC. Helpful features for diagnosis are bland cytologic features and adjacent tubular and spindle cell components. Focal areas of clear cells and oncocytic cells can also be present.

All in all, small-cell carcinoma is very responsive to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and in particular, regimens based on platinum-containing agents. However, most people with the disease relapse, and median survival remains low.

In "limited-stage" disease, median survival with treatment is 14–20 months, and about 20% of patients with limited-stage small-cell lung carcinoma live 5 years or longer. Because of its predisposition for early metastasis, the prognosis of SCLC is poor, with only 10% to 15% of patients surviving 3 years.

The prognosis is far more grim in "extensive-stage" small-cell lung carcinoma; with treatment, median survival is 8–13 months; only 1–5% of patients with extensive-stage small-cell lung carcinoma treated with chemotherapy live 5 years or longer.

The risk of renal cell carcinoma can be reduced by maintaining a normal body weight.

A Clear-cell carcinoma is a carcinoma (i.e. not a sarcoma) showing clear cells.

"A rare type of tumor, usually of the female genital tract, in which the insides of the cells look clear when viewed under a microscope. Also called clear cell adenocarcinoma and mesonephroma."

Examples :

- Clear cell renal cell carcinoma ~ clear cell kidney cancer

- Uterine clear-cell carcinoma ~ clear cell endometrial cancer

- Clear-cell ovarian carcinoma

The diagnosis of synovial sarcoma is typically made based on histology and is confirmed by the presence of t(X;18) chromosomal translocation.

Renal medullary carcinoma is extremely rare and it is not currently possible to predict those individuals with sickle cell trait who will eventually develop this cancer. It is hoped that early detection could result in better outcomes but screening is not feasible.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans provide an image of the soft tissues in the body using radio waves and strong magnets. MRI can be used instead of CT if the patient exhibits an allergy to the contrast media administered for the test. Sometimes prior to the MRI scan, an intravenous injection of a contrasting material called gadolinium is given to allow for a more detailed image. Patients on dialysis or those who have renal insufficiency should avoid this contrasting material as it may induce a rare, yet severe, side effect known as nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. A bone scan or brain imaging is not routinely performed unless signs or symptoms suggest potential metastatic involvement of these areas.

MRI scans should also be considered to evaluate tumour extension which has grown in major blood vessels, including the vena cava, in the abdomen. MRI can be used to observe the possible spread of cancer to the brain or spinal cord should the patient present symptoms that suggest this might be the case.