Adrenocortical carcinoma other diagnostic studies

Biopsy
Adrenal tumors are often not biopsied prior to surgery, so diagnosis is confirmed on examination of the surgical specimen by apathologist. Grossly, adrenocortical carcinomas are often large, with a tan-yellow cut surface, and areas ofhemorrhage and necrosis. On microscopic examination, the tumor usually displays sheets of atypical cells with some resemblance to the cells of the normal adrenal cortex. The presence of invasion and mitotic activity help differentiate small cancers from adrenocortical adenomas. There are several relatively rare variants of adrenal cortical carcinoma: Oncocytic adrenal cortical carcinoma, Myxoid adrenal cortical carcinoma, Carcinosarcoma, Adenosquamous adrenocortical carcinoma, Clear cell adrenal cortical carcinoma.