Ectopic adrenocortical carcinoma located in the ovary

Nonfunctional ectopic adrenocortical carcinoma in the lung: A case report and literature review

Background

Ectopic adrenocortical tissues and neoplasms are rare and usually found in the genitourinary system and abdominal cavity. The thorax is an extremely rare ectopic site. Here, we report the first case of nonfunctional ectopic adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) in the lung.

Case presentation

A 71-year-old Chinese man presented with vague left-sided chest pain and irritable cough for 1 month. Thoracic computed tomography revealed a heterogeneously enhancing 5.3 × 5.8 × 6.0-cm solitary mass in the left lung. Radiological findings suggested a benign tumor. The tumor was surgically excised upon detection. Histopathological examination using hematoxylin and eosin staining showed that the cytoplasm of the tumor cells was rich and eosinophilic. Immunohistochemical profiles (inhibin-a⁺, melan-A⁺, Syn⁺) indicated that the tumor had an adrenocortical origin. The patient showed no symptoms of hormonal hypersecretion. The final pathological diagnosis was non-functional ectopic ACC. The patient was disease-free for 22 months and is still under follow-up.

Conclusions

Nonfunctional ectopic ACC in the lung is an extremely rare neoplasm that can be easily misdiagnosed as primary lung cancer or lung metastasis, both preoperatively and on postoperative pathological examination. This report may provide clues to clinicians and pathologists regarding the diagnosis and treatment of nonfunctional ectopic ACC.

Clinical and laboratory characteristics and results of treatment of patients with ACTH-producing neuroendocrine tumors of various localization

Aim. To study the clinical, biochemical characteristics, treatment results and follow-up of patients with ectopic ACTH syndrome EAS (ACTH adrenocorticotropic hormone ). Materials and methods. A retrospective, observational, single-center study of 130 patients with EAS. Demographic information of patients, medical history, results of laboratory and instrumental investigations at the pre- and postoperative stages and follow-up of EAS were analyzed. Results. The mean age at the diagnosis ranged from 12 to 74 years (Me 40 years [28; 54]). The duration of the disease from the onset of symptoms to the verification of the diagnosis varied from 2 to 168 months (Me 17.5 months [7; 46]). Eighty-one (62,3%) patients had bronchopulmonary NET, 9 thymic carcinoid, 7 pancreatic NET, 5 pheochromocytoma, 1 cecum NET, 1 appendix carcinoid tumor, 1 medullary thyroid cancer and 25 (19.2%) had an occult source of ACTH. The median follow-up period of patients was 27 months [9.75; 61.0] with a maximum follow-up of 372 months. Currently, primary tumor was removed in 82 (63.1%) patients, bilateral adrenalectomy was performed in 23 (18%) patients, in 16 of them there was an occult source of ACTH-producing NET and in 7 patients in order to control hypercortisolism after non-successful surgical treatment. Regional and distant metastases were revealed in 25 (19.2%) patients. At the time of the last observation 59 (72%) patients were exhibited a full recovery, 12 (14.6%) had relapse of the disease and 26 (20%) died from multiple organ failure (n=18), pulmonary embolism (n=4), surgical complications (n=2), disseminated intravascular coagulation syndrome (n=1) or COVID-19 (n=1). Conclusion. In our cohort of patients bronchopulmonary NET are the most frequent cause of EAS (62.3%). Surgical treatment leads to remission of hypercortisolism in 72% cases; the proportion of relapse (14.6%) and fatal outcome (20%) remains frequent in EAS.

Adrenal Rests in the Uro-genital Tract of an Adult Population

Ectopic adrenal rests are a rare condition which can be found in various sites, generally in the retroperitoneum or pelvis along the path of gonadal descent. Their real prevalence is unknown. Males are more commonly affected, at least in the pediatric age. Adrenal rests are usually clinically silent and incidentally found in surgical samples, mostly in the pediatric population, and rarely in adults. With the aim of increasing knowledge and estimating the prevalence of ectopic adrenocortical tissue in the adult population, 44 adrenal rests in the urogenital tract of 40 adults are described. These represent approximately 0.07% of the total number of urogenital and gynecological surgeries performed in the 22 considered years. Adrenal rests were identified in the spermatic cord (10 males) and in paraovarian, parasalpingeal, or infundibulopelvic ligament locations (30 females). All but one was incidental findings. One case regarded an adrenocortical carcinoma arisen in adrenal rests. A literature review of adrenal ectopia in the urogenital tract of adults identified 57 reported cases from 53 patients, with similar clinicopathological features as those of our series, with the exception of a lower incidence of parasalpingeal locations. Despite their limited clinical implications, awareness of ectopic adrenal rests is essential also in adults for at least two reasons: (a) to correctly identify sources of adrenocortical hormone production in case of adrenal insufficiency or hormonal imbalance and (b) to avoid misinterpretations in the diagnostic workup of renal cell carcinoma, adrenocortical tumors, and rare gonadal neoplasms, including Sertoli/Leydig cell tumors.

Giant Adrenocortical Carcinoma: A Case Report and Review of the Relevant Literature

BACKGROUND Adrenocortical carcinomas are rare and aggressive tumors often diagnosed as incidentalomas. The malignancy can present with abnormal hormone secretion or the tumor may be non-functioning and present as a palpable mass causing discomfort. Here, we present a case of an adrenal cortical carcinoma originally identified as an incidentaloma. CASE REPORT A 63-year-old woman presented with abdominal pain and discomfort. A large abdominal mass, occupying the left upper and lower quadrant, was palpated. Imaging revealed a mass occupying the left abdomen between the stomach and the spleen, applying pressure on the pylorus, duodenum, splenic vessels, and pancreas. The mass size was 21.2×13×14.6 cm. Hormonal investigations were normal. Surgical exploration was performed, and the tumor was excised. Pathological analysis revealed an adrenocortical carcinoma and the patient underwent adjuvant chemotherapy. Twelve months later, the carcinoma recurred. The patient underwent a second operation in which the recurrent mass was excised along with the tail of the pancreas and a small part of the left lobe of the liver. The postoperative period was uneventful, and the patient was discharged home on the 7th postoperative day. No further adjuvant therapy was applied. The patient remains disease-free 18 months after the reoperation. CONCLUSIONS Giant adrenocortical carcinomas, although rare, pose a challenge to the surgical team both diagnostically and therapeutically. Surgical excision with the appropriate oncologic support can guarantee excellent outcomes.

Adrenocortical Carcinoma: Updates of Clinical and Pathological Features after Renewed World Health Organisation Classification and Pathology Staging

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a heterogenous group of diseases with different clinical behaviour between adult and paediatric patients. In addition, three histological variants, oncocytic, myxoid and sarcomatoid are noted on the recent World Health Organisation (WHO) classification of ACC. A review of recent literature showed that the different types of ACC have distinctive demographic data, clinical presentation, pathology, biological behaviour, genomic and patients' prognosis. In addition, recent updates of pathology staging for ACC allow refinement of prognostic grouping for planning treatment of the patients with ACC. These advances in genomic, pathology and staging have driven the development of standardisation of pathology reporting. International standardisation of pathological reporting of adrenocortical carcinoma and adaption to local pathology communities provide universal platforms for clinicians and researchers involved in the management of patients with ACC. To conclude, all these advances in the field of pathology will improve development of management strategies including improvement of clinical care, development of prognostic markers and testing of novel therapeutic approaches for patients with adrenocortical carcinoma.

Case Report: Ectopic Adrenocortical Carcinoma in the Ovary

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare malignancy with an incidence of 0.7-2.0 cases/million habitants/year. ACCs are rare and usually endocrinologically functional. We present the case of a 59-year-old woman who experienced abdominal fullness for 6 months and increased abdominal circumference. A large pelvic tumor was observed. She underwent cytoreductive surgery and the pathological test results revealed local tumor necrosis and prominent lympho-vascular invasion. Neuroendocrine carcinoma was the first impression, but positivity for synaptophysin, alpha-inhibin, transcription factor enhancer 3 (TFE-3), calretinin (focal), and CD56 (focal) and high Ki-67-labeling proliferating index (>80%) confirmed the diagnosis of ectopic ACC. Ectopic primary aldosteronism could not be excluded. However, we did not perform saline infusion test or captopril test due to poor performance status. When pathological test reports reveal neuroendocrine features not typically found in the organ being examined, IHC staining should be performed to rule out ectopic ACC. Whether the ectopic ACC is functional or not requires complete survey.

Multiple hormone secretion may indicate worse prognosis in patients with ectopic Cushing's syndrome

PURPOSE

Ectopic Cushing's syndrome (ECS) caused by an ACTH secreting neuroendocrine neoplasm (NEN) is a rare and challenging condition. We aimed to detect predictive and prognostic parameters for ECS patients identified from a retrospective, comprehensive cohort of NENs treated at a tertiary referral center.

METHODS

Medical records of 886 patients with NENs were reviewed. We identified 51 patients with ECS (33 females/18 men); mean age 52 ± 15 years (SD). Clinical parameters including symptoms, biochemical markers, and survival were extracted and further analyzed.

RESULTS

The primary tumor was located in the thorax (n = 28) or pancreas (n = 15) or was of unknown primary origin (n = 8). In 30 patients, tumor and ECS were diagnosed simultaneously. In 12 patients, the NEN diagnosis preceded ECS development, with a median time of 43.5 months (range: 9-96), and 10 of these showed radiological tumor progression at ECS diagnosis. Twenty-one patients had multiple hormone secretion, which correlated with shorter overall survival (OS), p = 0.012 (HR 2.4 (95% CI 1.2-4.9)), as did high morning cortisol, p = 0.037 (HR 2.3 (1.0-5.2)), higher tumor grade, p = 0.044 (HR 2.3 (1.0-5.1)), and diabetes, p = 0.050 (HR 2.4 (1.0-6.0)).

CONCLUSIONS

Multiple hormone secretion, high morning cortisol, higher tumor grade, and diabetes were correlated with shorter OS. Development of ECS in patients with a non-functioning NEN may indicate tumor progression. Multiple hormone secretion should be considered as a bad prognostic sign in ECS patients and should lead to intensified clinical management.

Giant nonfunctional ectopic adrenocortical carcinoma on the anterior abdominal wall: A case report

BACKGROUND

Adrenocortical cancer (ACC) is an infrequent and often aggressive malignancy with a very poor prognosis. It can be classified as functional or nonfunctional. Nonfunctional ACC is hampered by the absence of specific signs or symptoms; only abdominal pain with or without incidental adrenal occupation is typically present.

CASE SUMMARY

We report a rare case of a patient with a 30 cm × 15 cm × 8 cm ectopic ACC on the anterior abdominal wall without organ adhesion. A 77-year-old male was admitted to our hospital because of a huge abdominal mass, which, by ultrasonography, had an unclear border with the liver. Computed tomography showed that the mass was not associated with any organ but was adherent to the anterior abdominal wall. The patient underwent tumor resection, and a postoperative pathology examination showed a neuroendocrine tumor, which was diagnosed as ACC. The patient was disease-free at the 9-mo follow up.

CONCLUSION

The anterior abdominal wall is a rare site of ACC growth.

New and Emerging Biomarkers in Endocrine Pathology

Significant advances in genomics and molecular genetics in recent years have reshaped the practice of endocrine pathology. Pan-genomic studies, including the pioneering ones on papillary thyroid carcinoma, phaeochromocytoma/paraganglioma, and adrenal cortical carcinoma from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project, provided a comprehensive integrated genomic analysis of endocrine tumors into distinct molecularly defined subtypes. Better understanding of the molecular landscape and more accurate definition of biological behavior has been accordingly achieved. Nevertheless, how any of these advances are translated into routine practice still remains a challenge in the era of precision medicine. The challenge for modern pathology is to keep up the pace with scientific discoveries by integrating novel concepts in tumor classification, molecular genetics, prognostication, and theranostics. As an example, pathology plays a role in the identification of hereditary disease, while it offers the tools for complementing molecular genetics, for example, validation of variants of unknown significance deriving from targeted sequencing or whole exome/genome sequencing approach. Immunohistochemistry has arisen as a cost-effective strategy in the evaluation either of somatic mutations in tumors and/or germline mutations in patients with familial cancer syndromes. Herein, a comprehensive review focusing on novel and emerging biomarkers is presented in order pathologists and other endocrine-related specialists to remain updated and become aware of potential pitfalls and limitations in the field of endocrine pathology.

Combined Ovarian and Adrenal Venous Sampling in the Localization of Adrenocorticotropic Hormone-Independent Ectopic Cushing Syndrome

CONTEXT

Cushing syndrome is rarely caused by the secretion of cortisol from ovarian tumors. In clinical decision-making, it is important to determine whether the ovarian tumor is capable of secreting cortisol. Selective ovarian and adrenal venous sampling is scarcely reported in the localization of ACTH-independent ectopic Cushing syndrome.

CASE DESCRIPTION

We present a case of 40-year-old Chinese woman who had weight gain, hirsutism, hypertension, and menstrual disorder over 6 months. Her physical examination and biochemical assessment revealed adrenocorticotropic hormone-independent Cushing syndrome. Adrenal computed tomography scan indicated no abnormality. A mass of 5.7 cm × 4.2 cm × 3.4 cm was discovered by pelvic ultrasonography. Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy revealed no abnormal radioactivity intake. Combined ovarian and adrenal venous sampling together with a cortisol assay were conducted. Results revealed cortisol concentration of the right-side ovarian vein, left-side ovarian vein, and peripheral vein of 268.60, 29.00, and 35.18 μg/dL, respectively, suggesting a right-side ovarian origin. A right-side salpingo-oophorectomy was performed and the pathological diagnosis revealed ovarian steroid cell tumor, not otherwise specified. The cortisol level was substantially lower after the patient underwent surgery and symptoms of Cushing syndrome disappeared. At 3-year follow-up, the patient remained disease free, and no tumor was observed on pelvic ultrasonogram.

CONCLUSION

Combined ovarian and adrenal venous sampling is valuable in the localization of adrenocorticotropic hormone-independent ectopic Cushing syndrome.