AUTHOR=Scollo Claudia , Russo Marco , Trovato Maria Antonietta , Sambataro Daniela , Giuffrida Dario , Manusia Mario , Sapuppo Giulia , Malandrino Pasqualino , Vigneri Riccardo , Pellegriti Gabriella 

TITLE=Prognostic Factors for Adrenocortical Carcinoma Outcomes

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Endocrinology

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/endocrinology/articles/10.3389/fendo.2016.00099

DOI=10.3389/fendo.2016.00099

ISSN=1664-2392

ABSTRACT=<sec id="ST1"><title>Purpose</title><p>Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is an aggressive tumor characterized by a high recurrence rate and poor response to treatment. This study analyzes a consecutive series of ACC patients to evaluate the prognostic value of various clinical and pathological characteristics.</p></sec><sec id="ST2"><title>Methods</title><p>We retrospectively evaluated 32 ACC patients followed at our Medical Center from 1997 to 2015 and evaluated the prognostic value of age at diagnosis, gender, tumor functional status, stage, and type of treatment with respect to overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS), as determined by Kaplan–Meier curves.</p></sec><sec id="ST3"><title>Results</title><p>ACC was associated with hormonal overproduction in 50% of cases, and patients with isolated hyperandrogenism had a better prognosis. Recurrence was observed in 12/26 (46.2%) patients with no evidence of disease after surgery. Tumor size [hazard ratio (HR) 1.32, 95% confidential intervals (CI) 1.12–1.64; <italic>p</italic> = 0.007], ki-67 (HR 1.06, 95% CI 1.02–1.11; <italic>p</italic> = 0.009) and advanced stage at diagnosis (III–IV) (HR 6.51, 95% CI 1.65–24.68; <italic>p</italic> = 0.006) were associated with recurrence in the 26 R0 patients in the univariate analysis. Advanced stage was an independent risk factor for recurrence in the multivariate analysis (HR 8.10, 95% CI 1.55–41.35; <italic>p</italic> = 0.01). Five-year survival was 40.0%. Positive resection margins (HR 10.61, 95% CI 3.02–38.31; <italic>p</italic> = &lt; 0.001), ki-67 (HR 1.04, 95% CI 1.01–1.07; <italic>p</italic> = 0.01) and advanced stage (HR 11.31, 95% CI 1.45–87.76; <italic>p</italic> = 0.02) were associated with poor survival in all 32 patients, but only positive resection margins were an independent predictor of mortality in the multivariate analysis (HR 6.22, 95% CI 1.44–26.05; <italic>p</italic> = 0.01).</p></sec><sec id="ST4"><title>Conclusion</title><p>ACC has a poor prognosis with a high recurrence rate. Tumor stage at diagnosis and the completeness of surgical excision are the most relevant prognostic factors.</p></sec>