Adrenal Glands

C74WHO Vol. 10

Endocrine & Neuroendocrine System

Prognosis

This section is being prepared by our editorial process.

🔬 Histological Types

📚 Latest Research

2026-09-09

Association of ADAM17 expression with CD4 + and CD8 + tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in adrenocortical carcinoma and benign adrenal adenoma.

Sözen M, et al

A retrospective immunohistochemical study of 21 patients with adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) and 39 patients with benign adrenal adenoma (BAA) demonstrated that ACC tissues harbored significantly higher counts of both CD4+ and CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) compared to BAA tissues (p=0.010 and p=0.006, respectively). Despite this immune infiltration difference, expression levels of ADAM10, ADAM17, and PD-L1 did not differ significantly between malignant and benign tumors, and none of these markers correlated with Ki-67 index, tumor size, or ENSAT stage. Notably, ADAM17 H-scores showed significant positive correlations with both CD4+ and CD8+ TIL counts in both ACC and BAA tissues, suggesting that ADAM17 may influence the immune microenvironment of adrenocortical tumors. These findings highlight ADAM17 as a candidate for further investigation in the context of immunotherapy development for this rare and aggressive endocrine malignancy.

Endocrine

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2026-09-09

Transcriptomic and proteomic signatures predict in vitro response to mitotane in adrenocortical carcinoma.

Vietor CL, et al

A new study identifies distinct transcriptomic and proteomic signatures that predict which adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) patients are likely to respond to mitotane, the first-line drug for this rare cancer. Researchers analysed fresh-frozen tumour tissue from 30 ACC patients classified as responders (n=13), partial responders (n=10), or non-responders (n=7) based on in vitro mitotane-induced inhibition of cell proliferation, finding 718 differentially expressed genes and 60 proteins that distinguished responders from non-responders. Responders were more frequently characterised by cortisol-producing ACC with metastases or nodal involvement, and their molecular profiles aligned with previously described aggressive, proliferative ACC subtypes. These findings are clinically significant because mitotane is effective in only 25–30% of ACC patients yet carries severe toxicity, and these molecular biomarkers could enable better patient selection for therapy.

European journal of endocrinology

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2026-08-30 • AI

Application of Deep Learning Algorithm-Based Image Reconstruction in Improving Abdominal CT Image Quality in Adrenal and Renal Lesions Detection.

Tian J, et al

A deep learning-based CT image reconstruction algorithm called Precise Image (PI) significantly outperformed traditional filtered back projection (FBP) and iterative reconstruction (iDose) methods in abdominal CT image quality across all evaluated metrics in a retrospective study of 191 patients. Noise levels (standard deviation) declined progressively from FBP through iDose to PI Smooth, while signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) increased in the same order, with statistically significant intergroup differences observed for all primary endpoints (p < 0.05) and a post hoc statistical power exceeding 0.99. PI Smooth achieved the highest subjective image quality scores and the highest diagnostic confidence ratings for adrenal nodules and renal cysts, as independently assessed by two radiologists using Likert scales. These findings suggest that PI Smooth reconstruction could meaningfully improve radiologists' ability to detect and characterize small abdominal lesions in routine clinical practice.

Radiology research and practice

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