Follow-up after treatment for adrenal gland cancer
Follow-up care lets your healthcare team keep track of your health for a period of time after treatment ends. This important part of cancer care is often shared among your surgeon, endocrinologist (a doctor who specializes in diseases of the endocrine system) and your family doctor. They will help you recover from treatment side effects and monitor you for any signs that the cancer has come back (recurred).
Follow-up care may not seem that important to you, especially if your treatment was long or very hard. You may find the idea of follow-up care stressful because it reminds you of your cancer experience or because you are worried about what a test might reveal. Talk to your healthcare team about how you feel and about why follow-up matters. Your healthcare team is there to help.
Schedule for follow-up visits
Don't wait until your next scheduled appointment to report any new symptoms or symptoms that don't go away. Tell your healthcare team if you have:
- weight gain
- muscle weakness or cramps
- excessive hair growth on face, arms, chest and back in people assigned female at birth
- mood changes
- headache
- rapid heartbeat
- anxiety
- pain in the abdomen or back
- diarrhea
Adrenal gland cancer can come back (recur) at any time, so close follow-up is needed.
Follow-up visits for adrenocortical carcinoma are usually scheduled:
- 2 to 6 weeks after surgery to check hormone levels in the blood
- every 3 months for the first 2 or 3 years
- every 6 months for the next 5 years
Follow-up visits for pheochromocytoma are usually scheduled:
- 2 weeks after surgery to check hormone levels in the blood or urine
- 3 to 12 months after surgery to check for a recurrence on imaging tests
- 6 to 12 months for the first 3 years
- every year for the rest of your life
During follow-up visits
During a follow-up visit, your healthcare team will usually ask questions about the side effects of treatment and how you're coping. Tests are often part of follow-up care. You may have:
- a physical exam
- blood chemistry tests to check hormone levels
- urine tests to check hormone levels
- imaging tests such as a CT scan, an MRI, a bone scan or a chest x-ray to check for metastases
- a metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scan to check for pheochromocytoma tumours
If the cancer has come back, you and your healthcare team will discuss your treatment and care.
Find out more about follow-up
The following are questions that you can ask the healthcare team about follow-up after treatment for cancer. Choose the questions that fit your situation and add questions of your own. You may find it helpful to take the list to the next appointment and to write down the answers.
- What is the schedule for follow-up visits?
- How often is follow-up scheduled with the cancer specialist?
- Who is responsible for follow-up visits?
- What will happen at a follow-up visit?
- What tests are done on a regular basis? How often are they done?
- Are there any symptoms that should be reported right away? Who do I call?
- Who can help me cope with long-term side effects of treatment?