- MEN1: the number “1” in MEN1 should remind you of primary or prime number. MEN1 involves things that start with the letter P:
- Pituitary adenoma
- Parathyroid hyperplasia
- Pancreatic islet cell tumors (gastrinoma, insulinoma, glucagonoma)
- MEN2A: happens to involve the letter C (This is MEN2A, so there are two C’s in each item!):
- Calcitonin (medullary carcinoma of the thyroid with elevated calcitonin level)
- Calcium (parathyroid hyperplasia, which causes elevated calcium levels)
- Catecholamines which are made in the chromocytes (as in pheochromocytoma)
- Men 2B: B is for big (marfanoid habitus) and for belly problems (mucosal neuromas)
- MEN 1
- Mutation of the MEN1 gene (located on chromosome 11) → altered expression of menin protein
- MEN 2
- Altered expression of the RET proto-oncogene → elevated tyrosine kinase activity
- MEN 2B
- See Hereditary cancer syndromes