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Hospital for Endocrine Surgery
 6001 Webb Rd, Tampa, FL 33615 (855) 422 - 2224

Endocrine tumor screening

Endocrine tumors can often be identified from your routine lab tests or imaging scans that are performed in an emergency room for an unrelated complaint, injury or illness.

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Endocrine tumor screening in Tampa

Many patients can suffer for years before an endocrine tumor is detected. Through the Care Assure program at the Hospital for Endocrine Surgery, we use innovative technologies to detect endocrine tumor disease.

Historically, more than 50% of patients receiving treatment for an endocrine tumor had evidence of the tumor for several years on previous blood work or radiologic studies. We provide nurse navigators at participating HCA Florida Healthcare hospitals who help identify and make sure patients with evidence of an endocrine tumor are notified, so they can receive the appropriate follow up.

Care Assure

The Care Assure program utilizes innovative technologies to detect endocrine tumor disease by analyzing scans for the presence of incidental adrenal and thyroid masses, as well as laboratory results for indications of parathyroid hormone overproduction plus calcium levels. Nurse navigators collaborate with the patient and their healthcare provider to connect patients to follow-up care.

Identifying thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal tumors

Many endocrine tumors are not diagnosed, and patients can suffer the effects of poorly regulated hormones for years, having a tremendous impact on how patients feel and their overall health.

Background: Why endocrine screening is needed

Fortunately, many endocrine tumors are able to be seen on CT scans of the neck (for thyroid) or CT scans of the abdomen (for adrenal). Parathyroid tumors are often discovered by detecting high levels of calcium in the patient's blood. Unfortunately, these incidental findings are overlooked as they are often unrelated to the reason for the emergency visit.

Adrenal tumor screening

Adrenal tumors occur in 3.5% of adults. These small, round adrenal tumors are often seen when patients go to the emergency room of their local hospital and get a cat-scan of their abdomen. Adrenal tumors are benign more than 95% of the time, but they can make adrenal hormone. This means that every patient with an adrenal tumor seen on a scan should have their adrenal hormones checked.