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.

Carcinomas can be definitively diagnosed through biopsy, including fine-needle aspiration (FNA), core biopsy, or subtotal removal of single node. Microscopic examination by a pathologist is then necessary to identify molecular, cellular, or tissue architectural characteristics of epithelial cells.

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 primary method for treatment is surgical, not medical. Radiation and chemotherapy are not needed for benign lesions and are not effective for malignant lesions.

Benign granular cell tumors have a recurrence rate of 2% to 8% when resection margins are deemed clear of tumor infiltration. When the resection margins of a benign granular cell tumor are positive for tumor infiltration the recurrence rate is increased to 20%. Malignant lesions are aggressive and difficult to eradicate with surgery and have a recurrence rate of 32%.

Some drugs are particularly effective against cancers which fit certain requirements. For example, Herceptin is very effective in patients who are Her2 positive, but much less effective in patients who are Her2 negative. Once the primary tumor is removed, biopsy of the current state of the cancer through traditional tissue typing is not possible anymore. Often tissue sections of the primary tumor, removed years prior, are used to do the typing. Further characterisation of CTC may help determining the current tumor phenotype. FISH assays has been performed on CTC to as well as determination of IGF-1R, Her2, Bcl-2, [ERG (gene)|ERG], PTEN, AR status using immunofluorescence. Single cell level qPCR can also be performed with the CTCs isolated from blood.

Prognosis is excellent if the appropriate method of treatment is used in early primary basal-cell cancers. Recurrent cancers are much harder to cure, with a higher recurrent rate with any methods of treatment. Although basal-cell carcinoma rarely metastasizes, it grows locally with invasion and destruction of local tissues. The cancer can impinge on vital structures like nerves and result in loss of sensation or loss of function or rarely death. The vast majority of cases can be successfully treated before serious complications occur. The recurrence rate for the above treatment options ranges from 50 percent to 1 percent or less.

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

For surface epithelial-stromal tumors, the most common sites of metastasis are the pleural cavity (33%), the liver (26%), and the lungs (3%).

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.

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.

On ultrasound, a sertoli cell tumour appears as a hypoechoic intratesticular lesion which is usually solitary. However, the large cell subtype might present as multiple and bilateral masses with large areas of calcification. An MRI may also be conducted, but this typically is undefinitive.

Microscopy and immunohistochemistry are the only way to give a definitive diagnosis, especially when there is a suspected seminoma.

From a pathology perspective, several tumors need to be considered in the differential diagnosis, including paraganglioma, ceruminous adenoma, metastatic adenocarcinoma, and meningioma.

DSRCT is frequently misdiagnosed. Adult patients should always be referred to a sarcoma specialist. This is an aggressive, rare, fast spreading tumor and both pediatric and adult patients should be treated at a sarcoma center.

There is no standard protocol for the disease; however, recent journals and studies have reported that some patients respond to high-dose (P6 Protocol) chemotherapy, maintenance chemotherapy, debulking operation, cytoreductive surgery, and radiation therapy. Other treatment options include: hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, intensity-modulated radiation Therapy, radiofrequency ablation, stereotactic body radiation therapy, intraperitoneal hyperthermic chemoperfusion, and clinical trials.

Because this is a rare tumor, not many family physicians or oncologists are familiar with this disease. DSRCT in young patients can be mistaken for other abdominal tumors including rhabdomyosarcoma, neuroblastoma, and mesenteric carcinoid. In older patients DSRCT can resemble lymphoma, peritoneal mesothelioma, and peritoneal carcinomatosis. In males DSRCT may be mistaken for germ cell or testicular cancer while in females DSRCT can be mistaken for Ovarian cancer. DSRCT shares characteristics with other small-round blue cell cancers including Ewing's sarcoma, acute leukemia, small cell mesothelioma, neuroblastoma, primitive neuroectodermal tumor, rhabdomyosarcoma, and Wilms' tumor.

For more general information, see ovarian cancer.

For advanced cancer of this histology, the US National Cancer Institute recommends a method of chemotherapy that combines intravenous (IV) and intraperitoneal (IP) administration. Preferred chemotherapeutic agents include a platinum drug with a taxane.

Tissue biopsy is the diagnostic modality of choice. Due to a high incidence of lymph node involvement, a sentinel lymph node biopsy is often performed. A common characteristic of epithelioid sarcoma (observed in 80% of all cases) is the loss of function of the SMARCB1 gene (also termed BAF47, INI1, or hSNF5). Immunohistochemical staining of INI1 is available and can be used for the diagnosis of epithelioid sarcoma. MRI is the diagnostic modality of choice for imaging prior to biopsy and pathologic diagnosis, with the primary role being the determination of anatomic boundaries.

Due to the difficulty in identifying the tumour using imaging techniques, an orchiectomy is often performed. The majority of sertoli cell tumours are benign, so this is sufficient. There is no documented benefit of chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

To date, a variety of research methods have been developed to isolate and enumerate CTC. The only U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared methodology for enumeration of CTC in whole blood is the CellSearch system. Extensive clinical testing done using this method shows that presence of CTC is a strong prognostic factor for overall survival in patients with metastatic breast, colorectal or prostate cancer, see figure 2

The histology of EST is variable, but usually includes malignant endodermal cells. These cells secrete alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), which can be detected in tumor tissue, serum, cerebrospinal fluid, urine and, in the rare case of fetal EST, in amniotic fluid. When there is incongruence between biopsy and AFP test results for EST, the result indicating presence of EST dictates treatment. This is because EST often occurs as small "malignant foci" within a larger tumor, usually teratoma, and biopsy is a sampling method; biopsy of the tumor may reveal only teratoma, whereas elevated AFP reveals that EST is also present. GATA-4, a transcription factor, also may be useful in the diagnosis of EST.

Diagnosis of EST in pregnant women and in infants is complicated by the extremely high levels of AFP in those two groups. Tumor surveillance by monitoring AFP requires accurate correction for gestational age in pregnant women, and age in infants. In pregnant women, this can be achieved simply by testing maternal serum AFP rather than tumor marker AFP. In infants, the tumor marker test is used, but must be interpreted using a reference table or graph of normal AFP in infants.

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.

The prognosis of patients with FA as a whole is considered to be better than that of most other forms of non-small cell carcinoma, including biphasic pulmonary blastoma.

The staging for epithelioid sarcoma takes into account size and location of the primary tumor, lymph node involvement, presence and location of metastasis, and histologic grade (a measure of disease aggressiveness)

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.

Prognosis can range considerably for patients, depending where on the scale they have been staged. Generally speaking, the earlier the cancer is diagnosed, the better the prognosis. The overall 5-year survival rate for all stages of penile cancer is about 50%.

On X-ray, giant-cell tumors (GCTs) are lytic/lucent lesions that have an epiphyseal location and grow to the articular surface of the involved bone. Radiologically the tumors may show characteristic 'soap bubble' appearance. They are distinguishable from other bony tumors in that GCTs usually have a nonsclerotic and sharply defined border. About 5% of giant-cell tumors metastasize, usually to a lung, which may be benign metastasis, when the diagnosis of giant-cell tumor is suspected, a chest X-ray or computed tomography may be needed. MRI can be used to assess intramedullary and soft tissue extension.