Adrenocortical carcinoma is an aggressive cancer, with an incidence of 0.5-2 per million. We present a case of adrenocortical carcinoma with all the clinical and partly immunohistochemical features of disseminated undifferentiated lung cancer, and 'accidentally' treated as such. Four cycles of carboplatin-vinorelbine conferred partial response in the adrenal, lung and disappearance of a 2 cm subcutaneous iliac nodule that had appeared suddenly before the first course. Owing to progression, four cycles of carboplatin-pemetrexed were administered inducing partial response and then stable disease for an additional 12 months. As fluoro-d-glucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) only showed activity in the adrenal, laparoscopic adrenalectomy was performed. Three months later FDG-PET revealed a lung nodule unresponsive to carboplatin-pemetrexed, removed by wedge resection. Finally, re-evaluation by a tertiary centre confirmed adrenocortical carcinoma with Ki67-50% in the adrenal and the lung. The patient is alive and tumour free almost 3.5 years after retrospective diagnosis of metastatic adrenocortical cancer.
2014 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.