Tumors of the adrenal glands arise from the cortex or the medulla
part of the adrenal gland. Adrenal tumors commonly present because
symptoms from excess secretion of hormones by the tumor.
The
tumors from the adrenal cortex can produce excess secretion
of steroid hormones and aldosterone and tumors from the adrenal
medulla can produce excessive amounts of catecholamines. However
up to 3.5% of the population have so called adrenal incidentalomas
- tumors of the adrenals found incidentally during investigation
for an unrelated condition. The majority of these do not secrete
hormone
Adrenal
tumors can be benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancer).
Often this separation is difficult to make and long term close
follow up is necessary after removal to detect recurrences
early in patients who have adrenal cancer.
The
different types of Adrenal tumors are looked at more closely
in the following sections of this website:
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