Relating to or characteristic of a cancer that develops in glandular tissue and spreads aggressively.
From Greek 'aden' (gland) + 'karkinos' (crab, cancer) + '-oma' (tumor) + Latin '-ous' (full of). The term combines ancient Greek medical terminology for a specific type of malignant tumor affecting glands, with the suffix structure becoming standardized in medical nomenclature during the 19th century.
Adenocarcinomas are among the most common cancers in humans—lung, colon, and breast cancers are all adenocarcinomas. The ancient Greeks named cancer 'karkinos' because tumors with spreading blood vessels resembled a crab with legs, and that crab metaphor stuck in medical terminology for over 2,000 years.
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