Adrenocortical carcinoma: a 15-year survival after complete resection and repeated resection. A retrospective study in a patient with an expected poor prognosis.
Adrenocortical carcinoma is a rare but aggressive malignancy with metastases being present in 30-40% of cases at the time of diagnosis. A number of prognostic factors have been identified in patients with adrenocortical carcinoma, but criteria predicting survival are not uniform. We report the case of a 58-year-old man with a large, non-functioning and poorly-differentiated adrenocortical carcinoma who, according to current knowledge, was expected to have a short survival. On the contrary, the prompt diagnosis and curative resection of the primary tumour, together with two reoperations for local recurrences, allowed a 15-year survival and a good quality of life. A revision of both clinical and histological prognostic factors is therefore needed in patients with this type of malignancy.
Orlando
Rocco
R
Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Padova, Via Giustiniani, 2, 35128 Padua, Italy.
Pelizzo
Maria Rosa
MR
Lirussi
Flavio
F
D000306:Adrenal Cortex Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D018268:Adrenocortical Carcinoma / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000601:surgery*; D011379:Prognosis; D012086:Reoperation; D012189:Retrospective Studies