{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T19:58:21Z","timestamp":1790971101945,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"5","content-domain":{"domain":["eje.bioscientifica.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2008,11]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title><jats:p>Adrenocortical tumors (ACT) account for no more than 0.2% of the causes of androgen excess (AE). Conversely, these rare tumors have a very poor prognosis. It is difficult and important to exclude this diagnosis whenever there is AE.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Design<\/jats:title><jats:p>Retrospective investigation of androgen profiles in a large consecutive series of androgen-secreting (AS) ACT to assess their relative diagnostic value.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>A total of 44 consecutive female patients with ACT-AS and a comparison group of 102 women with non-tumor causes of AE (NTAE).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Patients with ACT-AS were older than the ones with NTAE (37.7 vs 24.8 years; <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>&lt;0.001) and the prevalence of hirsutism, acne, and oligo\/amenorrhea were not different. Free testosterone was the most commonly elevated androgen in ACT-AS (94%), followed by androstenedione (90%), DHEAS (82%), and total testosterone (76%), and all three androgens were simultaneously elevated in 56% of the cases. Androgen serum levels became subnormal in all ACT-AS patients after complete tumor removal. In NTAE, the most commonly elevated androgen was androstenedione (93%), while all three androgens were elevated in only 22% of the cases. Free testosterone values above 6.85\u200apg\/ml (23.6\u200apmol\/l) had the best diagnostic value for ACT-AS (sensitivity 82%, confidence interval (CI): 57\u201396%; specificity 97%, CI: 91\u2013100%). Basal LH and FSH levels were significantly lower in the ACT-AS group.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Free testosterone was the most reliable marker of ACT-AS. However, the large overlap of androgen levels between ACT-AS and NTAE groups suggests that additional hormonal and\/or imaging investigations are required to rule out ACT-AS in case of increased androgens.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1530\/eje-08-0324","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2008,8,18]],"date-time":"2008-08-18T23:25:01Z","timestamp":1219101901000},"page":"641-647","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1530\/crossmarkpolicy-1","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":30,"title":["Sex steroids in androgen-secreting adrenocortical tumors: clinical and hormonal features in comparison with non-tumoral causes of androgen excess"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"159","author":[{"given":"Catarina B","family":"d'Alva","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gwenaelle","family":"Abiven-Lepage","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vivian","family":"Viallon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lionel","family":"Groussin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marie Annick","family":"Dugue","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xavier","family":"Bertagna","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jer\u00f4me","family":"Bertherat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"286","container-title":["European Journal of Endocrinology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/eje.bioscientifica.com\/view\/journals\/eje\/159\/5\/641.xml","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/eje.bioscientifica.com\/view\/journals\/eje\/159\/5\/641.xml","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,14]],"date-time":"2023-02-14T16:22:04Z","timestamp":1676391724000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/ejendo\/article\/159\/5\/641\/6676109"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2008,11]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5"},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1530\/eje-08-0324","relation":{},"ISSN":["0804-4643","1479-683X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0804-4643","type":"print"},{"value":"1479-683X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2008,11]]}}}