Faculty Collaboration Database

Surgical management, DNA content, and patient survival in adrenal cortical carcinoma. Surgery 1995 Dec;118(6):1090-8

Date

12/01/1995

Pubmed ID

7491528

DOI

10.1016/s0039-6060(05)80119-9

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0028828149 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   102 Citations

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Surgical resection is the only potentially curative treatment for adrenal cortical carcinoma, yet the value of extended resection, palliative resection, and tumor DNA analysis remains unclear.

METHODS: The records of 23 patients with adrenal cortical carcinoma who underwent primary surgical resection at our institution were retrospectively reviewed. Flow cytometric DNA analysis was performed on primary tumor tissue from 14 patients.

RESULTS: Sixteen of 23 patients underwent complete resection. For these 16 patients the median follow-up was 43 months, the actuarial median survival was 46 months, and the actuarial 5-year survival rate was 46%. The seven patients who underwent incomplete resection all died of disease with a median survival of 8.5 months. Isolated local recurrence as the first site of failure occurred in two patients. Only completeness of resection (p = 0.004) and stage at presentation (p = 0.006) were significant prognostic indicators. None of the following predicted a poor prognosis in patients who underwent complete resection: (1) need for extended resection, (2) presence of renal vein or inferior vena cava tumor thrombus, or (3) tumor aneuploidy (14 of 14 tumors were aneuploid).

CONCLUSIONS: Long-term survival is possible in patients with adrenal cortical carcinoma if complete, margin-negative tumor resection can be achieved. Isolated local recurrence is uncommon after complete resection. Because adrenal cortical carcinomas are consistently aneuploid, tumor DNA content is not a useful prognostic factor.

Author List

Lee JE, Berger DH, el-Naggar AK, Hickey RC, Vassilopoulou-Sellin R, Gagel RF, Burgess MA, Evans DB

Author

Douglas B. Evans MD Chair, Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adenoma
Adolescent
Adrenal Cortex Neoplasms
Adult
Aged
Aneuploidy
Carcinoma
Combined Modality Therapy
DNA, Neoplasm
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Mitotane
Neoplasm Metastasis
Neoplasm Recurrence, Local
Neoplasm Staging
Prognosis
Survival Rate