Lung cancerspread to theadrenal glandsis known as adrenalmetastasis.
On rare occasions, adrenal metastases are the first sign of lung cancer.
What Are the Adrenal Glands?
Verywell / Nusha Ashjaee
The adrenal glands are small, triangular-shaped glands that are located on the top of each kidney.
Autopsy studies have found adrenal metastases in up to 42% of people who hadnon-small cell lung cancer.
Among all people with lung cancer, about 10% have metastases in both adrenal glands.
In fact, in one study, only5% of people with adrenal metastases had symptoms.
Treatment
The treatment recommended for adrenal metastases can vary depending on several factors.
In people with symptoms such as hemorrhage, treatments such as surgery may be necessary to control symptoms.
In some people, treatment with the goal of curing cancer may be a possibility.
Supportive care is important for all.
People with cancer deserve good pain management and control of other symptoms related to cancer.
Treatment of Symptoms
Adrenal metastases rarely cause symptoms.
If the metastasis has resulted in adrenal insufficiency, treatment with steroids may be needed.
If back pain or abdominal pain occurs, this should be treated.
Some people also participate in clinical trials studying new drugs and procedures.
Iftargetable mutationsare present,targeted drugscan sometimes treat stage 4 lung cancer like a chronic disease.
An example isALK-positive lung cancer.
SBRT involves using a high dose of radiation to a small area and sometimes has results similar to surgery.
Ablation
Image-guided percutaneous ablation is yet another option.
With that said, studies evaluating the aggressive surgical treatment of adrenal metastases done today have been encouraging.
Doing so typically results in more widespread disease as multiple organs are exposed to the circulating cancer cells.
Participating in the lung cancer community online is very helpful.
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