Endocrine Abstracts

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare, heterogeneous malignancy with aggressive behavior and poor prognosis, particularly when metastatic at diagnosis. To date, radical surgery, possibly associated to mitotane adjuvant therapy, is considered the best option for ACC treatment. However, the mean 5-year survival rate diminishes dramatically in metastatic ACC and chemo-resistance often develops. Thus, more specific and effective drugs for ACC treatment are urgently required. Th...

Solid tumours are very complex tissues comprising not only cancer cells, but also non-malignant stromal cells such as endothelial cells, fibroblasts, immune cells and extracellular matrix, forming the so called tumour microenvironment. In the last few years, it has become more and more evident the pivotal role of the tumour microenvironment in modulating cancer progression and metastasis. Tumour microenvironment has thus become a potential therapeutic target. To obtain an expe...

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare, heterogeneous malignancy with a poor prognosis, particularly when metastatic at diagnosis. To date, radical surgery, possibly associated to mitotane adjuvant therapy, is the only available treatment. However, the mean 5-year survival rate drops under 10% in metastatic ACC and chemo-resistance often develops. Thus, more specific and effective drugs for ACC treatment are urgently required. The antidiabetic drug metformin, used in type 2 ...

Pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma (Pheo/PGL) are rare neuroendocrine tumors generally benign. About 30–40% of Pheo/PGL are due to germ-line mutations in one of the susceptibility genes, including those encoding the succinate dehydrogenase subunits A-D (SDHA-D). Up to 80% of patients affected by SDHB mutated Pheo/PGL develop metastatic disease with no successful cure at present. In this study, we evaluated the different effect of tumor microenvironment on tu...

Pheochromocytomas (PHEOs) and paragangliomas (PGLs) are rare neuroendocrine tumors. About 30-40% of Pheo/PGLs are due to a germ-line mutation in one of the 13 main susceptibility genes which include the genes encoding the four subunits of the succinate dehydrogenase (SDH - mitochondrial complex II). In PHEO/PGL due to SDHB mutations up to 80% of affected patients develop metastatic disease and no successful cure is at present available. To obtain an experimental model resembli...

Pheochromocytomas (PHEOs) and paragangliomas (PGLs) are rare neuroendocrine tumors. About 30–40% of Pheo/PGLs are due to a germ-line mutation in one of the 13 main susceptibility genes which include the genes encoding the four subunits of the succinate dehydrogenase (SDH - mitochondrial complex II). In PHEO/PGL due to SDHB mutations up to 80% of affected patients develop metastatic disease and no successful cure is at present available. Tumor microenvironment plays a pivo...

Paragangliomas are rare neuroendocrine tumors derived from neural crest cells: if localized in the adrenal medulla they are called Pheocromocytomas (Pheo).The 30–40% of Pheo are mutated in one of the susceptibility genes among which there are genes encoding for the four subunits of the succinate dehydrogenase (SDH). Germ line mutations of SDHB are metastatic in about 80% of the cases. Surgery is the current therapy, but in presence of metastasis there is no effective trea...

Objective: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare malignancy, whose prognosis is mainly dependent on the stage at diagnosis. The identification of disease-associated markers representing solid biomarkers for early diagnosis and drug monitoring is mandatory to improve survival rate and life quality of patients. CTC are tumor cells originating from primary tumor or metastases. The tumor-induced angiogenesis and invasion allow aggressive tumors to release CTC into blood stream ...

Fascin-1(FSCN1) is an actin-bundling protein expressed in several solid carcinomas and often associated to an invasive and aggressive phenotype as it is involved in cytoskeleton rearrangement and filopodia formation. Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare endocrine malignancy characterized by a poor prognosis, particularly when metastatic at diagnosis. Complete surgical resection of the tumor mass is the main therapy for ACC patients in addition to the adjuvant administratio...

Adrenocortical cancer (ACC) is a rare aggressive malignancy, with poor prognosis when metastaic at diagnosis. Recent ACC pan-genomics analysis contributed to redefine the risk groups on molecular bases, including tumor micro RNA (miR), which can be detectable not only in the primary lesion but also in the bloodstream.We develop a quantitative real-time assay for the measurement of absolute levels in plasma samples of miR483 and its mature miR483-5p form....