ADRENAL CARCINOMA IN CHILDREN: LONGITUDINAL STUDY IN MINAS GERAIS, BRAZIL.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze clinical, laboratory and histopathological features and the path to diagnosis establishment and treatment of patients with adrenal carcinoma (AC).

METHODS

Retrospective study with 13 patients assisted at the pediatric oncology service of Hospital das Clínicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil, between 2004 and 2015.

RESULTS

Age at diagnosis ranged from 1.0 to 14.8 years (median: 2.0 years). Manifestations of hypercortisolism were identified in all cases and virilization in all girls. All patients met the Weiss criteria to AC histopathological diagnosis. Immunohistochemistry was performed in 61.5% of the cases. Most patients had stage I disease (76.9%). All subjects were submitted to total tumor resection. Two patients (stages III and IV disease) received chemotherapy associated to mitotane. The only death case was that of a patient with stage IV disease. The probability of overall survival for the entire group up to 5.0 years was 92.3±7.4%. The median time between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis was 9.5 months, and 6.0 months between first visit and start of treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Low age at diagnosis, predominance of cases with localized disease and complete tumor resection - with only one case of tumor capsule rupture - can possibly explain the favorable evolution of the studied population. The long period between onset of symptoms and diagnosis highlights the importance of training pediatricians for early recognition of AC signs and symptoms.