Objectives: We report the case of a female patient with adrenal carcinoma who had undergone surgery and presented with local-regional and distant recurrences, emphasizing the importance of the aggressive surgical treatment to achieve long-term survival which is unexpected sometimes. Currently, it represents the gold standard and all cases should be reported to stimulate other groups to work in this line.
Methods/results: We report the case of a 29-year-old female patient who consulted for left flank pain, being diagnosed of an adrenal tumor by radiological tests; she underwent surgical excision of a left adrenal carcinoma (stage II). Later on she presented with local-regional recurrences (2 times) and distant metastases (liver) undergoing excision in three procedures. Currently, the patient is alive and free of disease 7 years after diagnosis.
Conclusions: Adrenal cancer recurrences have been considered lethal in the short-term. Nevertheless, an aggressive surgical approach of local recurrences and metastasic disease may significantly prolong patient's survival and, sometimes, leave the patient disease free several years after the diagnosis of the primary tumor.