A LUTZ et al. Metastases of the adrenal gland are a frequent finding in patients with malignant tumors like bronchogenic carcinoma or breast cancer. Only limited and conflicting data on the adrenocortical function in these patients are available. We investigated the impact of adrenal macrometastases on adrenocortical function in a series of 28 tumor patients using the ACTH 1-24 stimulation test and dexamethasone suppression test. Simultaneously, baseline and stimulated serum aldosterone concentrations were significantly blunted in the tumor groups.
Adrenal insufficiency is infrequent and develops only in patients with bilateral metastases.
However, the majority of patients have activation of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis despite adrenal metastases with strongly elevated cortisol concentrations. Download the FULL TEXT of this article in Acrobat PDF format. If you have not previously downloaded PDF files we suggest you access our Advice page for further information. European Journal of Endocrinology Return to the Contents List - Vol.