Was Wondering About Adrenal Mass ?

I have a friend that has gone to an Urologist for a bladder problem was told after test she does not have bladder cancer but at the base of the bladder she has a small obstruction. So he ordered a CT scan of the abdomen. Long story short..the Urologist told her after her CT if they had seen anyting out of the norm they would have informed him. Now 2 weeks later her internal Doctor`s office called an said that they had just gotten the report back an that she has an abnormal mass on her adrenal gland an that she needs to have an MRI . Does anyone know what this could mean or has anyone had anything similiar to this ?  Does the adrenal gland mass have anything to do with the kidneys ability to restrict the flow of urine or decrease it. Any information will greatly appreciated. God Bless Everyone  :)

 

On 3/22/2008 MindAnSoul wrote:

I have a friend that has gone to an Urologist for a bladder problem was told after test she does not have bladder cancer but at the base of the bladder she has a small obstruction. So he ordered a CT scan of the abdomen. Long story short..the Urologist told her after her CT if they had seen anyting out of the norm they would have informed him. Now 2 weeks later her internal Doctor`s office called an said that they had just gotten the report back an that she has an abnormal mass on her adrenal gland an that she needs to have an MRI . Does anyone know what this could mean or has anyone had anything similiar to this ?  Does the adrenal gland mass have anything to do with the kidneys ability to restrict the flow of urine or decrease it. Any information will greatly appreciated. God Bless Everyone  :)

Well, I'm no expert, but I have been addressing this as well.  I was found to have an adrenal mass, they are working it up.  It could be nothing.  Ofent, an adrenal mass is an "incidentaloma", nothing.  It could be a pheochromocytoma, an adolsteronoma, really several things.  Most often, it is either nothing or it can be removed if it is producing hormones that affect the rest of the body.  They should be doing labs as well, 24 hour urine for VMA and catecholamines, aldosterone and renin, 24 hour urine for serotonin and cortisol, desamethasone suppression test for cortisol.

Hope this helps.

 

Hi,

My husband has stage 3 rectal cancer. In the process of his test for that they found an adrenal adenoma. Most the time this is nothing to worry about. They will probaly watch it as they are with my husband. Google adrenal adenoma and you will see a great deal of people have them and don't even know. They are usually found by accident and are very rarely a problem.

Toni

A couple of years ago, I was having symptoms of Cushing's Disease (puffy face, hair loss, upper body weight gain, high blood pressure).  I had my Dr. check my cortisol hormone level and it was elevated. I was sent to an endocrinologist and after lab and urine tests, a CT was done which showed a 6 centimeter mass on my right adrenal gland.  It was removed by surgery but 8 months later (Jan. 2007), a small tumor showed up on my liver. I had liver resection surgery. In November, 2007, during a re-check CT on my abdomen, the bottom of my right lung showed a small tumor.  A CT of the chest then showed multiple "nodules" on both lungs.  Dr's now consider this metasisized adrenal cancer and I have taken 5 rounds of chemo. This is a very rare form of cancer--only 200 cases in the US each year--literally 1 in a million.  Apparently most adrenal tumors are benign.  The pathology reports from both surgeries say the tumors appeared benign. Since tumors were later found in my liver and now my lungs, the Dr.'s say it is malignant even though the tumors appeared to be benign.  I am doing great. God is taking care of me!

 

i was wondering if these tumors or masses are not malignant then why do they need to be removed? Do the tumors affect the actual gland or do they set there undisturbing the gland?

 

On 5/15/2008 KathyCross wrote:

A couple of years ago, I was having symptoms of Cushing's Disease (puffy face, hair loss, upper body weight gain, high blood pressure).  I had my Dr. check my cortisol hormone level and it was elevated. I was sent to an endocrinologist and after lab and urine tests, a CT was done which showed a 6 centimeter mass on my right adrenal gland.  It was removed by surgery but 8 months later (Jan. 2007), a small tumor showed up on my liver. I had liver resection surgery. In November, 2007, during a re-check CT on my abdomen, the bottom of my right lung showed a small tumor.  A CT of the chest then showed multiple "nodules" on both lungs.  Dr's now consider this metasisized adrenal cancer and I have taken 5 rounds of chemo. This is a very rare form of cancer--only 200 cases in the US each year--literally 1 in a million.  Apparently most adrenal tumors are benign.  The pathology reports from both surgeries say the tumors appeared benign. Since tumors were later found in my liver and now my lungs, the Dr.'s say it is malignant even though the tumors appeared to be benign.  I am doing great. God is taking care of me!

 

My 21 yrs old daughter is also recently diagnosed with adrenal cancer and she had her 12 cm tumor, adrenal gland, a bloodclot and her left kidney removed. We too were told there are nodules in both lungs. I am interested to know what form of chemo was done and how long 5 rounds of it took. Our reports have not come back benign and I am looking for hope. Please let me know that God is watching because my daughter needs a miracle.

These tumors give off their own cortisol which impacts many functions of the body including hormone production. In my daughter's case she had symptoms of missed periods and then no ovulation at all due to imbalance of estrogen and testotrone, weight gain to face and abdomen - basic Cushing's syndrome but there are other symptoms as well such as fatigue, muscle weakness and unwanted facial hair. I haven't learned about the fatal effects except in what I have read which is prognosises that are in the single digits- I believe mostly because it isn't caught until its too late to operate or worse.