I had heard of MEN in casual conversation, but your note in the FML let
me start looking it up to learn more.  For instance, unless there is a
change in info it isn't a suppressor situation but a predisposing one
according to
 
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?
cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9683585&dopt=Abstract
 
including
>Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) is an autosomal dominant
>syndrome predisposing to tumors of the parathyroid, endocrine pancreas,
>anterior pituitary, adrenal glands, and diffuse neuroendocrine tissues.
>The MEN1 gene has been assigned, by linkage analysis and loss of
>heterozygosity, to chromosome 11q13 and recently has been identified by
>positional cloning...
 
Yes, I think this IS what the vets were referring to in casual
conversation as a genetic variant thought to perhaps be in ferrets as
well (hence the study proposals), predisposing them to adrenal neoplasia,
insulinoma, and lympho.  Decades ago before there was a lot of selective
breeding for certain looks and championship lines there simply were not
the levels of these problems seen as now in the U.S.  Of course, a great
deal more has changed in that time frame, too, besides just the shift in
the representation of certain alleles in the population, though the
proportions of certain alleles, such as those involved in Neural Crest
Genetic Medical Disorders has increased enormously due to selective
breeding for certain appearances.
 
Past attempts to look up "MEN" even in relation to clarifying words on
the web was -- well, you can imagine just how successful it was.  It's
hard enough to separate out info on "KIT", another genetics term (though
for that adding "oncogene" helps).
 
I'm going to be digging more into this today and I suspect that your
posting the term has a lot of folks searching today!  Thanks so much
for the help for all!
[Posted in FML issue 4659]