Adrenal cortical carcinoma.

Adrenal cortical carcinoma is a rare endocrine tumor, and complete surgical resection is the only potentially curative treatment. Accurate preoperative biochemical and radiographic evaluation of the patient who presents with an adrenal mass optimizes patient management and facilitates a complete margin-negative resection of the primary tumor--the most important prognostic variable for long-term survival. Response to mitotane or chemotherapy is modest in patients with advanced disease. It is hoped that an improved understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of this challenging tumor will lead to the development of novel treatment strategies.