Which statement best defines a secondary endocrine disorder?

A secondary endocrine disorder occurs when the problem originates from the pituitary gland or another part of the endocrine system that is responsible for stimulating a target endocrine gland. In this context, the term "secondary" indicates that the dysfunction is not in the target gland itself but rather in the gland that regulates it. For instance, if the pituitary gland fails to produce adequate levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), the thyroid gland may not produce enough thyroid hormones, leading to hypothyroidism. Thus, the explanation denotes that the failure is in the stimulation process from an upstream gland.

The other choices do not accurately capture the definition of a secondary endocrine disorder. For example, a disorder originating from the endocrine gland itself would describe a primary disorder, while an endocrine gland secreting too much hormone pertains more to hypersecretion issues rather than the stimulation of another gland. Lastly, stating that the disorder is always cancerous is misleading, as many endocrine disorders can be functional or structural without being malignancies.