Abstract

POLANIA, DIANA et al. ADRENOCORTICAL CARCINOMA: SUBJECT REVIEW. rev.fac.med [online]. 2011, vol.19, n.2, pp.207-216. ISSN 0121-5256.

Adenomas are the most common adrenocortical tumors with a prevalence of 4%, being the adrenocortical carcinomas rare with an incidence of 1 case por million people. Half these carcinomas are functional, with earlier diagnoses due to the excessive hormonal syndromes they produce unlike the remaining 50% which are silent, with metastases being found upon the diagnosis in more than one half of them. They can have a sporadic presentation or make part of familiar cancer syndromes with genetic disturbances resulting in an imbalance between the oncogenes and the tumor suppressor genes, aside from becoming potential diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic markers of this disease. In the presence of adrenocortical carcinoma, several clinical, biochemical and radiological criteria must be taken into account to properly establish the diagnosis which should be confirmed through histology.

Keywords : carcinoma; pathophysiology; genetic disturbances; staging; therapy; follow-up.

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