SAT-183 Right Adrenal Mass: An Unusual Presentation

Background: Adrenal masses may be incidentally found on imaging done for other reasons. The prevalence is 4.4% and up to 10% in older patients. Malignancy is an uncommon cause in patients without a known diagnosis of cancer. The frequency of primary adrenal carcinoma in patients with adrenal incidentalomas is approximately 2.0 to 5.0%; another 0.7 to 2.5% have non-adrenal metastases to the adrenal gland. Clinical Case: 54-year-old man with Hepatitis C, prior alcohol abuse, and cirrhosis was found to have an increase in the alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level from normal to 244 ng/ml (nl<15.1) over a 6-month period. Liver MRI was consistent with a cirrhotic liver without focal enhancing lesions and showed a new indeterminate 7.6 cm right retroperitoneal lesion arising from the adrenal gland compared to a prior CT of the abdomen a year early. Further imaging confirmed a 9.6 x 9 x 7.6 cm heterogeneously enhancing right adrenal lesion with a necrotic center, concerning for a primary malignancy; up to 11.1cm a month later. Patient referred to Endocrine for further evaluation. There were no symptoms suggestive of Cushing’s, pheochromocytoma or primary hyperaldosteronism. On exam there were no hypertension, dorsal fat pad, supraclavicular fullness, skin thinning or purplish striae. Biochemical workup was consistent with a non-functioning adrenal mass. DHEA-S was 11 (38-313 mcg/dl). CT-guided core needle biopsy of right adrenal gland was consistent with metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma. CT pelvis with contrast re-demonstrated the right adrenal mass now measuring 11.4 x 10 x 10 cm with new enlarged retrocaval lymph node and no focal arterially enhancing lesions. During embolization of adrenal lesion/ hepatic angiogram, multiple liver lesions not previously identified were reported with the largest of 2.9cm size and enhancing lesions in the sacrum and bilateral iliac bones; decrease in size of the necrotic right adrenal mass measuring 8.2 x 9.1 x 9.1 cm 1-month post-embolization. Patient following with Oncology. Conclusion:Unilateral isolated adrenal metastasis from occult hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is extremely rare. Adrenal gland is the second most common site of hematogenous spread from HCC after the lung and has been found in up to 8.4% of cases at autopsy. In our case, the adrenal metastasis was the first clinical presentation of HCC with no evident hepatic lesion until 9 months of adrenal finding; few cases have been reported. Fine needle aspiration/needle biopsy of suspected malignancy is useful to detect primary tumor in case of metastatic disease that is silent at this stage. Adrenal metastasis in HCC are seldom treated by surgery as by the time of diagnosis the tumor is usually far advanced and/or patients are poor surgical candidates. This case highlights the importance of suspecting underlying HCC in isolated adrenal mass in a patient with high risk factors.