Immunohistochemical Characteristics of Adrenocortical Carcinoma: An Overview

Abstract

Immunohistochemistry has played a major role in the practice of surgical pathology over the past three decades. These techniques have been of particular value in the diagnosis and classification of tumors of the adrenal cortex. The intermediate filament phenotype of adrenocortical carcinomas includes positivity for vimentin (80-100%), cytokeratin (40-50%) and neurofilament proteins (50%). Other markers that have proven useful for the diagnosis of these tumors include melan A (A103), alpha inhibin, synaptophysin, calretinin, D11 and the nuclear protein adrenal 4 binding protein. The judicious use of these markers permits the distinction of adrenocortical carcinomas from other tumor types and may also be of value in the identification of the functional characteristics of these neoplasms.