Endocrine Abstracts

Pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas (PPGL) are rare neuroendocrine tumors derived from chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla and paraganglia of the autonomic nervous system, respectively. Despite a common origin, these tumors are quite heterogeneous in terms of driver mutations, copy number alterations and activated downstream-signaling pathways. Genome wide expression analysis has identified at least three main tumor clusters: a pseudo-hypoxic cluster, one with activation ...

The adrenal gland is a crucial regulator of numerous fundamental biological processes and its hormones are essential for maintaining homeostasis in normal and stressful situations. However, the impact of hypoxia signalling on the function of the adrenal remains poorly understood. During the past years, our research group has focused on enhancing our understanding of hypoxia pathway proteins (HPPs) in the different areas of the adrenal gland. Firstly, we described a crucial rol...

Pheochromocytoma and Paraganglioma, collectively referred to as PPGLs, are rare, mostly benign neuroendocrine tumors arising from chromaffin cells of the adrenal gland or of extra-adrenal sites, respectively. Surgery is the first-line therapy for localized PPGLs. However, up to 17% of PPGLs show metastatic spread, and for these cases there is no curative treatment. Therefore, the identification of novel therapeutic approaches for advanced PPGLs is highly clinically relevant. W...

Background: Invasive nonfunctioning (NF) pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs) are non-resectable neoplasms associated to frequent relapse and significant comorbidities. As current treatments often fail against NF-PitNETs, identifying actionable therapeutic targets is essential. We focused on the angiopoietin-2 (Angpt2)/Tie2 axis, usually active in endothelial cells (ECs).Methods: ANGPT2 plasma levels in NF-PitNET patients and healthy controls were m...

The recreational use of cannabis is becoming more widespread since many countries, including parts of Europe, are currently discussing legalisation. Moreover, the medical use of cannabinoids is already established and has many indications such as multiple sclerosis-induced spasticity or supportive therapy in the case of tumour-associated pain or loss of weight or appetite. However, the effects of cannabinoids on tumour growth still remain largely unexplored in many tumour enti...