Endocrine Neoplasia

Endocrine neoplasia care with skilled surgeons and personalized support, close to home.

Book Now with an Endocrine Cancer Surgeon

Endocrine neoplasia is a group of disorders that causes abnormal growths in endocrine system glands that produce hormones. Many of these disorders, including thyroid cancer and adrenal tumors, are rare. Nuvance Health® Cancer Institute offers specialized therapies and hope for healing.


Skilled surgeons use the latest techniques to diagnose and treat a broad range of endocrine neoplasias. This level of care is not widely available in New York’s Hudson Valley and Western Connecticut.

What is Endocrine Neoplasia?

Your endocrine system is a network of glands, including your thyroid, parathyroid and adrenals, that produce chemical messengers (hormones). These messengers regulate critical body functions like your metabolism, blood pressure and stress response.

Neoplasia occurs when abnormal cells grow out of control and form tumors, which may or may not be cancerous. Noncancerous tumors may require surgery to remove them if they produce hormones (functioning tumors) or become a certain size.

Endocrine Neoplasia Care at Nuvance Health: Why Choose Us?

Endocrine neoplasia requires care from experienced specialists, and you'll find it at Nuvance Health. The team includes one of the region's few surgeons specializing in this condition. Our experience helps you receive complete care, including a careful diagnosis and sophisticated surgical procedures, close to home. Highlights of our program include:

  • Personalized care:
    We take time to get to know you and develop a personalized plan. For noncancerous thyroid growths (nodules), we may recommend monitoring. If it’s thyroid cancer, you may need surgery. Specialists explain recommendations in ways you can understand, so you can make good care decisions. Read more about thyroid tumors.
  • Minimally invasive surgery:
    Patients who need surgery often have minimally invasive procedures. This approach preserves healthy tissue, enabling you to recover quickly and with less pain. For parathyroid cancer, we use the smallest necessary incision and remove only the affected gland. Read more about parathyroid tumors and disease.
  • Convenience:

    Follow-up care and ongoing monitoring are available in the location that’s most convenient for you. You have options:

    • If you have an established relationship with an endocrinologist, Nuvance Health specialists are available as necessary to answer questions.
    • If you do not have an endocrinologist, we are happy to continue seeing you.

Coordinated Care for Rare and Complex Endocrine Neoplasia

Nuvance Health gives you access to more of the specialists you need in one place. We work together whenever necessary to coordinate treatments for rare and complex conditions.

Endocrine neoplasia specialists coordinate with other doctors to treat:

  • Advanced thyroid cancer: If the tumor has spread to tissues in the airway, we partner with thoracic surgeons specializing in cancer. Find out more about thoracic cancer.
  • Neuroendocrine tumors: This rare type of endocrine neoplasia often affects the small bowel, which absorbs nutrients from digested food. It can also affect pancreas, which helps your digestive system break down sugars and fats. Experienced pancreatic surgeons use sophisticated techniques to access and treat this hard-to-reach tumor.

Specialized Care for Adrenal Tumors

The team excels in evaluating and treating adrenal tumors. Your adrenal glands are near the lower part of your back above the kidneys. These tumors are typically noncancerous and you might not notice them.

Diagnosing adrenal tumors

The first signs of adrenal tumors include:

  • Abnormal growths: Doctors may identify growths if you undergo imaging studies for an unrelated medical concern, like abdominal pain.
  • Symptoms of excess hormones: If it is a functioning tumor, high hormone levels can make you feel sick. You may experience:
    • Hyperaldosteronism: An excess of the hormone aldosterone causes high blood pressure, an increase in blood volume and low potassium levels.
    • Cushing disease: Elevated levels of stress hormone (cortisol) can lead to rapid weight gain, unexplained bruising, difficulty thinking and more.
    • Pheochromocytoma: High levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline can cause dangerously high blood pressure, rapid heart rate and other symptoms.

Blood and urine tests help us confirm a functioning tumor. We then determine the type and amount of hormone it’s producing, so you get a careful diagnosis.

Adrenal tumor treatment

Adrenal tumors larger than four centimeters or that produce hormones typically require surgery. We use minimally invasive approaches, such as retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy, whenever possible. Surgeons access the adrenal glands through small incisions in your back using tiny instruments and sophisticated cameras. This approach is gentler on your body.


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