adrenocortical carcinoma
Meaning of adrenocortical carcinoma: A rare cancer of the adrenal gland's outer layer that often announces itself through the hormones it releases unchecked.
Definition of adrenocortical carcinoma
Adrenocortical carcinoma is a rare cancer arising in the cortex, the outer layer of the adrenal gland that caps each kidney. Many of these tumors keep producing steroid hormones without any control, so the first clue is often a hormone effect such as rapid weight gain, raised blood pressure or unexpected body hair. Others declare themselves only once the mass grows large.
What does the adrenal cortex do?
Each adrenal gland has two quite different tissues inside one capsule. The adrenal cortex forms the outer shell and makes steroid hormones: one that controls salt and water, cortisol that governs the response to stress and the handling of sugar, and small amounts of male-type hormones. The core, called the medulla, is nerve-derived tissue that makes adrenaline instead. Tumors of the core are a separate disease with a separate name, so a cancer of the adrenal gland is never one single entity.
What do the hormones cause?
| Hormone released | What appears |
|---|---|
| Cortisol | Rounded face, thin bruising skin, muscle weakness, raised blood sugar |
| Male-type hormones | Body and facial hair, deepening voice, disrupted periods in women |
| Female-type hormones | Breast enlargement and reduced sex drive in men |
| Salt-retaining hormone | Raised blood pressure with a low potassium level, uncommon here |
| None | Pain, fullness or a mass found by chance on a scan |
How is it told apart from a harmless nodule?
Small adrenal lumps turn up often on scans done for other reasons, and almost all of them are benign and inactive. Size, the way the lump behaves with contrast on a scan, and blood and urine hormone tests separate them. Needle sampling is generally avoided, partly because it can spread tumor along the needle path and partly because a carcinoma of this tissue is judged on a combination of microscopic features rather than any single one. Complete surgical removal offers the best chance of cure, and the tumor recurs often enough that follow-up is prolonged.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
Adrenocortical carcinoma was diagnosed after investigation of rapidly developing Cushing syndrome.
Good to know
The adrenal cortex and the adrenal core are different tissues, so adrenocortical carcinoma arises in the steroid-producing outer layer while pheochromocytoma arises in the adrenaline-producing center.
Word origin
Where “adrenocortical carcinoma” comes from
Adrenal joins the Latin ad, meaning near, with ren, meaning kidney. Cortex is Latin for bark or outer rind, and carcinoma comes from the Greek karkinos, a crab.