[New aspects of tumor pathology of the adrenal glands].
In daily routine pathology of the adrenal glands three tumor entities are important: adrenocortical tumors, adrenomedullary tumors and metastases. The differentiation of these three main tumor types can often be difficult structurally but immunostaining enables a definite diagnosis in nearly all cases. Adrenocortical tumors are positive for steroidogenic factor 1 and melan-A and always negative for chromogranin A whereas adrenomedullary tumors express chromogranin A but never keratin. A broad spectrum of antibodies is available for the identification of metastases and even the rare epithelioid angiosarcomas. For adrenocortical tumors, adenomas and carcinomas can be differentiated using three scoring systems and the Ki-67 index in adenomas should not exceed 3%. Using scoring systems and the Ki-67 index approximately 90% of cortical tumors can be differentiated into benign or malignant tumors. For pheochromocytomas two scoring systems are used for differentiating benign and malignant tumors but the results are less dependable.
Institut für Pathologie der Universität Hamburg, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Martinistraße 52, 20246, Hamburg, Deutschland, w.saeger@uke.de.
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D000306:Adrenal Cortex Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D000310:Adrenal Gland Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary; D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000473:pathology*; D000313:Adrenal Medulla / Q000473:pathology; D018246:Adrenocortical Adenoma / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D053379:Chromogranin A / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007633:Keratins / Q000032:analysis; D058965:MART-1 Antigen / Q000032:analysis; D010673:Pheochromocytoma / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology; D054339:Steroidogenic Factor 1 / Q000032:analysis
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D053379:Chromogranin A; D058965:MART-1 Antigen; C548667:MLANA protein, human; C515057:NR5A1 protein, human; D054339:Steroidogenic Factor 1; D007633:Keratins