Abstract
A 3-year-old boy with adrenal cortical carcinoma is reported. Chief complaints were obesity and hypertrichosis. Endocrinological studies and selective renal angiography revealed a left adrenal tumor. Left adrenectomy, weighing 13 g, was performed through an upper transverse incision. Local invasion and distant metastasis were not found. Histologically, the tumor showed adrenal cortical carcinoma with capsular invasion and vascular tumor-thrombi. Vincristin and cyclophosphamide were administered 5 times every other week, and 5-furuolouracil was given for 6 months, postoperatively. No radiation therapy was done. Ten years after the operation, he is doing well without any evidence of disease. Forty seven children under 15 years of age with adrenal cortical carcinoma were reviewed from the Japanese literature. Non-functioning tumor was found in only 9%, and the incidence of non-functioning tumor was obviously lower than that adult patients. Only 8 patients have survived for more than 8 years. There was a close relationship between the tumor-weight and survival: In survivor, the mean tumor-weight was 187 grams, whereas it was 1,006 grams in non-survivor.
