Abstract
Multiple etiological factors related to tumour development including smoking, drugs and irradiation have been described. We interviewed 31 patients or family members concerning the symptons of malignant tumours in relatives, the medication taken by mothers during pregnancy, smoking, alcohol dietary habits and geographic distribution. We studied 31 patients, 26 (83.8%) females and 5 (16.1%) males with adrenal cortical tumours, who ranged in age from 7 months to 64 years. All were Caucasians. Twenty eight patients (90%) had clinically functional tumours; 14 (50%) of these had Cushing's Syndrome, 10 (35,7%) had virilization and 4 (14.2%) had both. Three tumours were not functional. Thirteen patients were below 10 years of age and 11 (84%) had one or both parents who smoked from these, 3 patients (32%) were exposed to nicotine in uterus. Among the adult patients, seven(38%) were smokers. Twenty four patients were from the state of Sao Paulo (5 from metropolitan Sao Paulo and 19 from the countryside of Sao Paulo), 2 from Minas Gerais, 4 from the Northeast and 1 from the South. Among the patients from the countryside, five (26.3%) had history suggestive of direct exposure to insecticides. We identified a high incidence of malignant tumours in family members (parents or grandparents) of 16 patients (51%). The most frequent location of these neoplasms was the gastroententinal tract. Our data may suggest a role of environmetal factors, in addition to, possible familiar predisposition in the pathogenesis of adrenal cortical tumors.
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Latronico, A., Mendonca, B., Arnhold, I. et al. 25 EPIDEMIOLOGIC FEATURES OF 31 PATIENTS WITH ADRENAL CORTICAL TUMOURS. Pediatr Res 36, 676 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199411000-00049
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199411000-00049