Objective: To examine adrenal invasion by renal cell carcinoma (RCC), particularly by adrenal micrometastasis, to determine whether adrenalectomy should be performed during radical nephrectomy.
Patients and methods: From 1987 to 1994, 129 patients with RCC (90 men and 39 women, mean age 61.4 years, range 22-81) underwent radical nephrectomy with associated adrenalectomy because they had risk factors for adrenal invasion (tumour size > 5 cm. or tumour of the superior pole). Pathological examinations were carried out systematically and records of these examinations reviewed. The tumour size was recorded and the frequency of invasion calculated.
Results: There were 10 cases where the gland was invaded: one was a synchronous contralateral metastasis and nine (7%) were ipsilateral invasions of which two were tumours in the superior pole that invaded the gland by direct extension and the other seven invaded the gland by distant metastasis, six being micrometastatic (4.7%). A single micrometastasis was found in two cases (1.5%). There was no adrenal invasion by tumours of < 5 cm in diameter from the superior pole. When only tumours > 5 cm in diameter were considered, the ipsilateral invasion rate was 11% (9/80) and the micrometastatic rate was 7.5% (6/80).
Conclusion: Adrenalectomy need not be performed routinely in small tumours which are detected early, but the possibility of adrenal micrometastasis from larger tumours (> 5 cm) should be considered.