Diagnosis of adrenocortical carcinoma

Adrenocortical carcinoma is a rare disease with a poor prognosis. The prognosis of affected patients is determined by<br /> the early detection of the disease at its locoregional stage when surgical resection of the tumour can significantly in-<br /> crease the chances of cure. Determining the dignity of adrenal tumours is often a challenge during preoperative in-<br /> vestigation. Diagnosis is aided by conventional radiological and laboratory tests. New biomarkers with considerable<br /> diagnostic accuracy have recently been identified and are expected to be incorporated into daily practice in the near<br /> future. Among them, the most promising techniques include serum and urinary steroid metabolomics and miRNA<br /> analyses. In this review, we describe preoperative clinical and postoperative pathological testing methods that could<br /> serve as useful tools for identifying adrenocortical carcinoma