Adrenal cancer


Tumors of the adrenal gland have recently been encountered more often - due to the wide availability of ultrasound and computer tomography, tumor formation of the adrenal gland is detected in 2-3% of the subjects. There is evidence that a tumor of the adrenal gland can be found by careful examination of 5% of the inhabitants of our planet.

Currently, the situation with the diagnosis and treatment of adrenal tumors resembles the situation with the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid nodules, which was created about 10-15 years ago. At the end of the 20th century, following the widespread use of ultrasound of the thyroid gland, thyroid nodules began to appear in 20-30% of the inhabitants of the Earth, following the number of operations on the thyroid gland it began to grow simply in geometric progression. In some medical centers, there is an almost 10-fold increase in the number of operations on the thyroid gland! Only in regard to all thyroid nodules, only 5% are malignant, and all the rest are completely harmless benign Educations, never "degenerating" into cancer. Currently, the leading specialized centers, and with benign nodes that reduce the patient's quality of life - i.e. They work strictly according to the indications, avoiding operations on all other nodes.

The situation with tumors of the adrenal glands is similar in many respects to the situation with thyroid nodules, only for the adrenal glands the "computer" and magnetic resonance imaging were the "catalyst" for the increase in the number of operations. These studies appeared later than ultrasound, and they are less frequent, so the "wave" of surgery on the adrenal gland also appeared later.

Often, when CT or MRI of the abdominal cavity doctors diagnose radiation accidentally notice the tumor of the adrenal gland. For such randomly detected tumors even came up with a special name - "insidentaloma" (from random - random). It is important to understand that an accidentally detected tumor of the adrenal gland is by no means an occasion for an obligatory operation. A thorough examination is required, in which the diagnosis will be clarified, and there will also be indications for the operation (or it becomes clear that there is no indication for the operation).