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Key Statistics for Adrenal Cancer
How common are adrenal cancers?
Adrenal tumors are found in about 1 in every 10 people who have an imaging test (like a CT or MRI) of the adrenal gland. Most are benign adenomas.
Adrenocortical carcinomas are much less common than adenomas. In fact, they are very rare. The exact number diagnosed in the United States each year is not known. It is probably around 200 per year.
Patients with adrenocortical carcinoma are usually either very young (less than 5 years old) or middle-aged (40 to 50s). Women appear to be more likely to develop this cancer than men.
Visit the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Statistics Center for more key statistics.
Developed by the American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team with medical review and contribution by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
Lirov R, Tobias E, Lerario AM, Hammer GD. Adrenal tumors In: DeVita VT, Lawrence TS, Rosenberg SA, eds. DeVita, Hellman, and Rosenberg’s Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology. 10th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 2015: Chapter 84.
Ng L, Libertino JM. Adrenocortical carcinoma: diagnosis, evaluation and treatment. J Urol. 2003 Jan;169(1):5-11.
Schneider DF, Mazeh H, Lubner SJ, Jaume JC, Chen H. Cancer of the endocrine system In: Neiderhuber JE, Armitage JO, Doroshow JH, Kastan MB, Tepper JE, eds. Abeloff’s Clinical Oncology. 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA. Elsevier: 2014: 1112-1142
Last Revised: October 1, 2024
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