Adrenocortical carcinoma in two children with subsequent primary tumors

Two 13-month-old children with adrenocortical carcinoma were treated surgically; each developed a second primary tumor, four and seven years later, and died shortly thereafter. Adrenocortical carcinoma is a rare childhood tumor. Second primary tumors in children are also uncommon. The coupling of two unusual events in each child is thought to represent genetic predisposition since potentially carcinogenic therapeutic modalities were not employed in treating their original tumors and neither patient exhibited an immune defense deficit.