The role of adhesive molecules in the pathogenesis of adrenal gland tumours formation remains unclear. Here we present the concentrations of soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) and soluble intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) in the blood of patients with adrenal "incidentaloma". We found that the mean concentrations of sVCAM and sICAM in the serum of the patients with adrenocortical cancers were significantly higher than those of the patients with benign adenomas or control cases. These results suggest that the levels of adhesion molecules may be a marker of malignancy of adrenal incidentalomas.