Children's Health

The most common sign of MEN1 syndrome is hypercalcemia. Hypercalcemia may cause weakness, feeling very tired, nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, being very thirsty and urinating more than usual, and constipation.

• MEN2A syndrome

  MEN2A syndrome is also called Sipple syndrome. A diagnosis of MEN2A syndrome may be made when the patient or the patient's parents, brothers, sisters, or children have two or more of the following tumors:

  • Medullary thyroid cancer.
  • Pheochromocytoma (a tumor of the adrenal gland).
  • Parathyroid gland cancer.

  Symptoms of medullary thyroid cancer may include the following:

  • A lump in the neck.
  • Trouble breathing.
  • Trouble swallowing.
  • Hoarseness.

  Symptoms of pheochromocytoma may include:

  • Pain in the abdomen or chest.
  • Fast or irregular heart beat.
  • Being irritable or nervous.
  • Headache.

  Symptoms of parathyroid gland cancer may include:

  • Hypercalcemia.
  • Pain in the abdomen, side, or back that doesn't go away.
  • Pain in the bones.
  • A broken bone.
  • A lump in the neck.
  • Change in voice, such as hoarseness.
  • Trouble swallowing.

  Family members of patients with the MEN2A syndrome should have genetic counseling and be tested in early childhood, before age 5, for the gene changes that lead to this type of cancer.

  A small number of medullary thyroid cancers may occur at the same time as Hirschsprung disease (chronic constipation that begins when a child is an infant), which has been found in some families with MEN2A syndrome. Hirschsprung disease may appear before other signs of MEN2A syndrome do. Patients who are diagnosed with Hirschsprung disease should be checked for certain gene changes that cause MEN2A syndrome.

• MEN2B syndrome

  Patients with MEN2B syndrome may have a slender body build with long, thin arms and legs. The lips may appear thick and bumpy because of benign tumors in the mucous membranes. MEN2B syndrome may cause the following conditions:

  • Medullary thyroid cancer.
  • Parathyroid hyperplasia.
  • Adenomas.
  • Pheochromocytoma.
  • Nerve cell tumors in the mucous membranes or other places.
• Familial medullary carcinoma of the thyroid (FMTC)

  This type of MEN2 syndrome causes medullary thyroid cancer. A diagnosis of FMTC may be made when 2 or more family members have medullary thyroid cancer and no family members have parathyroid or adrenal gland problems.