Adrenal cancer, the rare but deadly disease that has struck Anna ‘Chickadee’ Cardwell
Adrenal cancer, the cruel one-in-a-million disease that plagues Anna ‘Chickadee’ Cardwell and that in two-thirds of cases is only discovered AFTER it’s too late
Anna ‘Chickadee’ Cardwell was diagnosed with stage 4 adrenal cancer, her family announced Thursday.
The 28-year-old ‘Here Comes Honey Boo Boo’ star’s cancer has spread from the glands in her stomach to her liver, kidneys and lungs. She underwent a series of tests that discovered cancer after complaining of abdominal pain.
Adrenal cancer is a rare but deadly form of the disease, with only a few hundred cases reported annually in the US. Less than a hundred are suffered in the UK. In two-thirds of cases, it is caught after it has already spread to other organs.
It usually develops when a person is under five years old or between the ages of 40 and 50. This makes Chikadee’s case a rarity.
Anna ‘Chickadee’ Cardwell (pictured), 28, has been diagnosed with stage 4 adrenal cancer. She received her diagnosis in January and has already started treatment
Mrs Cardwell (centre) has two daughters. She rose to fame through the reality TV show ‘Here Comes Honey Boo Boo’
If caught early, it can be surgically removed, giving a patient a 50 percent chance of surviving at least five years. Once it spreads, the survival rate drops dramatically — to between 10 and 20 percent. Its low prevalence makes it harder to detect because doctors don’t screen for it regularly.
‘[Adrenal cancer] remains a rare malignancy in the United States,” a New York City-based study team wrote in 2018.
“However, most cases are only diagnosed at an advanced stage and are associated with poor survival.”
The disease begins in the adrenal glands, small cavities just above a person’s kidneys that secrete the hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine.
The glands are responsible for helping regulate a person’s heart rate and other functions related to the cardiovascular system. She also help activate a person’s “fight-or-flight” response during stressful situations.
The disease is believed to develop when the DNA of cells in the gland goes through an unhealthy change and starts multiplying — though the exact cause is still unclear.
Like other cancers, malignant cells can break off from the adrenal glands and be carried by the bloodstream to another part of the body.
This causes cancer to spread, making it more difficult to treat and significantly more deadly.
The adrenal glands are small sacs just above the kidneys that are responsible for regulating that body’s adrenaline system.
Unlike many other cancers, doctors don’t know exactly what puts someone at increased risk of suffering from the disease. There are no known risk factors.
This is partly because the disease is so rare that it has not been researched as extensively as other cancers.
About one in a million people are diagnosed each year.
This means that the incidence rate in the US drops by about 350 cases each year.
The mean age of diagnosis is 46 years. However, it is also known to occur in young children.
If the cancer is detected before it spreads to other parts of the body, doctors will recommend surgery to remove it, according to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
In these cases, a patient has a five-year survival rate of between 50 and 60 percent.
If it spreads — as Chikadee’s reportedly has — the survival rate drops to between 10 and 20 percent, UCLA reports.
In these cases, a person will often be treated with chemotherapy.
Ms Cardwell’s case was reported by TMZ on Thursday. Family sources told the outlet that the reality star received her diagnosis in January.
She underwent her first round of chemotherapy last month and has lost her hair, sources said.
Doctors are waiting to see what the treatment means for her before making any further decisions, but her family is “very hopeful” that she will overcome the disease.