[Adrenocortical carcinoma: report of 20 cases]

The authors reported 20 cases of adrenocortical corcinoma. The tumors were nonfunctional in 12 cases (average age 49.7) and functional in 8 cases (5 with hypercortisolism, 3 with adrenogenital syndrome; average age 8.8). The prognosis in this group were poor, the survival of one year was 40%, two years 35% and five years 10%. Most of adrenocortical carcinomas in childhood were functional and their prognosis were poor because of delayed treatment. The nonfunctional tumors were usually diagnosed in the late period, therefore the prognosis was worse, but in recent years some cases of no secretory carcinomas had been occasionally found by image diagnosis and these tumors were small, so their prognosis was favorate.