Pharmacological profile and effects of mitotane in adrenocortical carcinoma

Clinical results of the use of mitotane for adrenocortical carcinoma.

Mitotane (o,p'-DDD) acts mainly as an inhibitor of intramitochondrial pregnenolone and cortisol synthesis. Its adrenolytic effect depends on metabolic activation due to conversion to o,p'-DDA and o,p'-DDE. The drug has been used for 40 years in the treatment of adrenocortical carcinoma, mainly its regional and metastatic stage, as an adjuvant to surgical resection of the tumor. In the medical l...

Effects of mitotane on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in patients with adrenocortical carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE Mitotane, a drug used to treat adrenocortical cancer (ACC), inhibits multiple enzymatic steps of adrenocortical steroid biosynthesis, potentially causing adrenal insufficiency. Recent studies in vitro have also documented a direct inhibitory effect of mitotane at the pituitary level. The present study was aimed to assess the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in patients with ACC rec...

Pharmacological adrenalectomy with mitotane.

The potential of mitotane (ortho, para'-DDD, commonly used to treat adrenal carcinomas in humans and dogs) was investigated as an alternative to surgical adrenalectomy in birds, salamanders, and lizards. House sparrows (Passer domesticus) were injected twice daily with vehicle or one of two doses of mitotane (225 or 450 mg/kg), and basal and stress-induced levels of corticosterone (CORT) were m...

Analysis of the effects of mitotane on gene expression and the pathways affected by microRNAs in adrenocortical carcinoma

The long-term survival in adrenocortical carcinoma with active surgical management and use of monitored mitotane.

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare tumour disease with sinister prognosis also after attempts to radical surgery; better prognosis is seen for low-stage tumours. Adjuvant treatment with the adrenolytic drug mitotane has been attempted, but not proven to prevent from recurrence. The drug may offer survival advantage in case of recurrence. The aim of this single-centre study (1979-2007) of ...