Statistics About Adrenal Cancer

Some people use statistics to try to figure out their chances of getting cancer or to figure out how likely it is that they will be cured. Statistics show what happens with large groups of people. However, because no two people are alike, statistics cannot be used to find out what will happen to a particular person.

These are some 2007 statistics from the American Cancer Society about adrenal cancer.

• Adrenal adenomas are frequently found in middle-aged and elderly people. They often have no symptoms but show up on CT scans, or MRIs of the abdomen done for other reasons.

• Adrenal cortical cancer is very uncommon. There are probably about 300 to 500 new cases in the United States per year. They are less common than adrenal adenomas.

• The average age of people who have adrenal cortical cancer is around 45, but it can occur at any age, even in children.

• Adrenal cortical cancer seems to occur more often in females.

At this time, researchers have found few risk factors that make a person more likely to get adrenal cancer. Since there are no known preventable risk factors for adrenal cancer, it is not possible to prevent this disease.