ABSTRACT
Objective To review the clinical features,diagnosis,management and prognosis of patients with nonfunctional malignant adrenal tumors. Methods 12 patients admitted with nonfunctional malignant adrenal tumors from 1990 to 2000 were reviewed.Among them 6 cases had symptoms of fever,ostealgia,etc.The tumor measured 3 cm in 1 case,5 to 10 cm in 9 cases and more than 10 cm in 2 cases.Ten cases developed local invasion and (or) matastasis. Results Five cases underwent tumor excision or enucleation and 5 underwent biopsy only.Of these 10 cases,4 were pathologically diagnosed as cortical adenocarcinoma,4 as metastatic carcinoma,1 as mucous liposarcoma and 1 as lymphoma.The remaining 2 cases had no operation.One case died during hospital stay.Ten cases died within 2 years.One case of adrenocortical carcinoma experienced relapse 3 years after initial operation and died next year. Conclusions Nonfunctional malignant adrenal tumor is rare and difficult to diagnosis in early stage,indicating an extremely poor prognosis.Tumor diameter is an important factor to be considered regarding surgical indication.