Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Adrenal cancer is a rare, highly invasive malignant tumour with the incidence estimated for approximately 0,5-2,0 cases per milion people annually. Considering the fact that adrenal cancer is very sporadic not much data on its epidemiology is available.

Aim of the study: The aim of the study was to present the single-center data on the epidemiology of the adrenal cancer.

Material and methods: Patients with the diagnosis of adrenal cancer who were treated in Center of Oncology of the Lublin Region St. Jana z Dukli in the years 2021-2023 were enrolled into the study. The following data were analyzed: patients’ age at moment of diagnosis, primary disease staging according to ENSAT staging classification, histopathologic examination according to Weiss system, clinical presentation (presence or absence of adrenal hormones excess) and treatment applied to the patients.

Results: The study included 14 patients (8 men and 6 women). The youngest patient was 31 years old (a woman), the eldest was 77 years old (a man). The mean age at the moment of establishing diagnosis was 57 years. In 7 patients the cancer was hormonally active - one female patient presented hyperandrogenemia and hypercortisolemia, two female patients and four male patients had overt Cushing syndrome. In ENSAT staging classification for adrenocortical carcinoma, four patients had ENSAT II stage; seven patients had stage III; three patients had stage IV. In the examined group, 11 patients underwent adrenalectomy. In histopathological examination Weiss system was performed in 12 patients. with the maxuimum score of nine points in one of the patients. All 14 patients received adjuvant mitotane therapy. Five patients received additional adjuvant chemotherapy with etoposide, doxorubicin and cisplatin.

Conclusion: Adrenal cancer is a neoplasm with varied clinical presentation. It demands specific diagnostic tools and treatment protocols. Therefore, treatment sgould be conducted in the high-reference centers.