Adrenal Gland Cancer
Adrenal glands are located above each kidney.Adrenal cancer happens when abnormal cells form in or travel to the adrenal glands.
If the tumor is small, you might not feel any symptoms. When the tumor is big, it can press against other organs. You might feel pain in stomach or back. You might also feel pressure or fullness after meal.
Tumor can change the levels of some hormones which causes a various symptoms such as excessive hair growth on face and body, enlarged penis in young boys or the clitoris in girls, large breasts in boys and early puberty in girls.
Your doctor may perform various test such as :
- an image-guided fine needle biopsy
- an ultrasound
- a CT scan
- a positron emission tomography (PET) scan
- an MRI scan
- an adrenal angiography
Recommended procedure for adrenal gland cancer is
- Laparoscopic Retroperitoneal Adrenalectomy
Laparoscopic Retroperitoneal Adrenalectomy is a minimal invasive procedure to remove the diseased adrenal glands.
The major benefit of the retroperitoneal approach is that the surgeon does not need to interfere any other organs out of the way (i.e. spleen, liver, pancreas, colon, etc.) because the adrenal gland lies right against the ribcage in the back. This technique means that it may be performed faster than the traditional transabdominal approach.