Cancer of endocrine glands and target organs: genetic considerations.

The pathogenesis of cancer in general is influenced by many factors, genetic and environmental. Epidemiological studies demonstrate familial aggregation of cancer in a significant proportion of cases. Many of these familial cancer syndromes contain endocrine hormone-related components. The etiology of endocrine-related cancers is complex, as is that of other cancers. Tumors of endocrine glands and target organs are subject to the same influences as other cancers; an additional variable is that of hormone-responsiveness.