title: Adrenocortical carcinoma in children and adults: Two decades experience in a single institution.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) occurring in children and adults show distinct characteristics. However, due to rarity of the disease no large series addressing this issue has been published.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to study clinico-pathologic profile and outcome of ACC in children and adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tertiary referral center. Retrospective study (January 1990-June 2011).
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-five patients with ACC were included; 16children (aged < 18 years) and 29 adults. Clinical details, hormonal profile, operation records, pathology reports and follow-up findings were noted and compared. Survival analysis was performed using Kaplan-Meier method. Log rank test and Cox regressionan alysis were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean age was 8 ± 5.7 (M: F = 1:2.1) in children and 44.4 ± 15 years (M: F = 1:1.1) in adult groups. Prevalence of functioning tumors was significantly high in children (87.5 vs. 31% P = 0.001), while prevalence of incidentalomas was high in adults (6.3 vs. 51.7% P = 0.05). Tumor stage distribution at presentation, mean diameter (10.9 vs. 13.7 cm), and weight (392.9 vs. 892.9 g) didn't differ significantly in two groups. Adults had better albeit non-significant 5 year overall survival (OS) than children (0 vs. 13%). On univariate analysis stage of disease (P = 0.008), surgical intervention (P = 0.004), Weiss score (P = 0.04) and hormonal secretion (P = 0.04) were significantly associated with OS in adults but not in children. No factor was found significant on multivariate analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Except for high prevalence of functioning tumors in children, clinico-pathologic attributes and outcome of ACC in the two groups didn't differ significantly.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrine Surgery, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sabaretnam
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrine Surgery, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrine Surgery, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrine Surgery, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrine Surgery, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India.
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Verma
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrine Surgery, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Mishra
mesh_terms: D018268:Adrenocortical Carcinoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006801:Humans; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis