What is a phaeochromocytoma?

A phaeochromocytoma is a type of neuroendocrine tumour that arises from chromaffin cells in the adrenal glands, and which mainly affects adults.

Here, Dr Bernard Khoo, renowned consultant endocrinologist in London, provides an expert insight into phaeochromocytomas, including how they can be cured.

What are phaeochromocytomas?

Phaeochromocytomas are tumours of the adrenal glands.

They are not terribly common, but they are a particular special interest of mine at the Royal Free Hospital, which is a European Neuroendocrine Tumour Society Centre of Excellence and where I am one of the lead endocrinologists.

Who is at risk of developing phaeochromocytomas?

Phaeochromocytomas can appear in any patient.

However, certain patients can inherit a type of gene or a variant in the gene that makes them more vulnerable to developing phaeochromocytomas. Again, this is something that I’m very interested in looking into.

What do phaeochromocytomas cause?

Phaeochromocytomas develop in the adrenal glands, which make the stress hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline. Phaeochromocytomas can cause the adrenal glands to make too much of these hormones, which can cause all sorts of symptoms including headaches, sweating, and high blood pressure.

When patients present with these symptoms, one of the things that we look for as doctors is for the secretion of adrenaline and noradrenaline in the bloodstream or in the urine so that we can diagnose a phaeochromocytoma.

How are phaeochromocytomas diagnosed? What are the symptoms?

The symptoms of a phaeochromocytoma quite commonly include:

• headaches
• sweating
• a feeling of anxiety
• high blood pressure

When patients present with this set of symptoms, we either ask them to collect urine in a pot for 24 hours or to take a special blood test. These tests are then analysed for the presence of adrenaline and noradrenaline or the chemicals that adrenaline and noradrenaline are processed into.

Once we have an idea that a phaeochromocytoma might be the problem, we then order scans. This can include:

• CT scans to look at the adrenal glands.
• Special nuclear medicine scans, where a small injection of a mildly radioactive substance is put into the body to stick to the phaeochromocytoma. This substance then lights up the tumour on the scanner.

How are phaeochromocytomas treated? Can they be cured?

Phaeochromocytomas can be cured. Very often, what we recommend is surgery to take them out. In most cases, phaeochromocytomas are benign, meaning that once patients have had surgery to remove them, the tumours won't come back.

In some cases, phaeochromocytomas can be malignant. However, these tumours can be treated with additional kinds of treatments, such as chemotherapy or specialised radionuclide therapy.

If you require expert diagnosis and treatment for a phaeochromocytoma, don’t hesitate to book an appointment with Dr Bernard Khoo via his Top Doctors profile today.