A Case of Adrenocortical Carcinoma with Remarkably High Concentrations of 11-dexycortisol / 대한내분비학회지

ABSTRACT

The adrenocartical carcinoma is a rare tumor with an estimated incidence of 1 case per 1,700,000 population. Despite its rarity, a large number of investigators have studied this neoplasm for the following two reasons. The First is the occasional difficulty of differentiation between careinoma and adenoma at the time of initial surgery, even by histopathologic examination. The other is its unique feature of corticosteroidogenesis. Steroid metabolism of adrenocortieal carcinoma is characterized by its low efficiency of steroid production due to deficiency of steroidogenic enzyme. The deficieney of 11 B-hydroxylase has been indieated in case of adrenoeortical carcinoma by several investigators. In this study, the serum level of cortisol was within normal range, but the serum level of 11-deoxycortisol was 50 times higher than normal. After the removal of tumor, the serum level of ll-deoxycortisol was markedly decm. In conclusion, the results from the this case suggest that measurement of serum 11-deoxy- cortisol may be a useful tool in the diagnosis and follow-up of adrenocortical carcinoma.