Adrenal tumour bigger than 5 cm - What could it be? An analysis of 139 cases

Abstract

Introduction: There is an increasing number of adrenal being tumours discovered incidentally during imaging examinations performed for many different indications. Radiological findings suggesting adrenal pathology may be caused by true adrenal tumours or by other retroperitoneal masses. Generally, the larger the tumour, the higher the possibility of adrenal cancer. Material and methods: Analysis of our data - 139 operations performed over 11 years (2004-2014) in patients with tumours in the adrenal area larger than 5 cm. Results: The most common finding was adrenal cancer (25.2%), benign adenoma (24.5%), pheochromocytoma (12.9%), and metastatic cancer (10.1%). In total, there were 19 various histopathological diagnoses in this group. Conclusion: Although adrenal cancer is the most likely diagnosis in large adrenal tumours, a broad spectrum of various adrenal and retroperitoneal tumours with size more than 5 cm can be found in such patients. (Endokrynol Pol 2017; 68 (4): 411-415).