Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia

multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN), any of a group of rare hereditary disorders in which tumours occur in multiple glands of the endocrine system.

MEN is transmitted in an autosomal dominant fashion, meaning that the defect can occur in males and females, and, statistically, half the children of an affected person will also be affected. MEN is often difficult to recognize in its early stages because the pattern of endocrine gland hyperplasia (an abnormal increase in the number of cells in the gland) and tumour development varies. In addition, the tumours that characterize the syndromes of MEN do not appear simultaneously. Thus, a patient may have incomplete expression of one of these inherited syndromes when first examined; however, many of these individuals will later develop other tumours or conditions that are characteristic of a particular type of MEN syndrome.