Adrenal metastasis from carcinoma of the colon and rectum: a report of three cases.

We report herein three cases of patients with adrenal metastases from colorectal carcinoma. Recurrent disease was suspected following markedly elevated levels of serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and adrenal metastases were confirmed by computed tomography (CT) scanning in all three patients. The adrenal metastasis was solitary in one patient and this patient is still alive and free from disease 1 year after undergoing complete removal of the adrenal metastasis. On the other hand, metastatic disease was not limited to the adrenal gland in the other two patients and both died of recurrent disease, 33 months and 4 months after undergoing removal of the adrenal metastases, respectively. Thus, although the prognosis of adrenal metastasis from colorectal cancer is usually poor, we believe that patients with a solitary adrenal metastasis will benefit from complete removal of the metastasis.