Adrenal cancers (carcinomas) are very rare, and the exact number diagnosed in the United States each year is not known. It is probably around 200 per year. These cancers are much less common than benign adrenal tumors (adenomas), which are found fairly often among middle aged and elderly people. Adrenal tumors (most of which are benign adenomas) are found in about 1 in every 10 people who have an imaging test (like a CT or MRI) of the adrenal gland.
The average age of patients with adrenal cancer is around 46, but adrenal cancer can occur in people of any age, even in children.
Visit the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Statistics Center for more key statistics.
The American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team
Our team is made up of doctors and oncology certified nurses with deep knowledge of cancer care as well as journalists, editors, and translators with extensive experience in medical writing.
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.
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: January 2, 2018
American Cancer Society medical information is copyrighted material. For reprint requests, please see our Content Usage Policy.