Endocrine Abstracts

Ovarian cancer (OC) is the most lethal gynecological cancer. Debulking surgery and platinum-based chemotherapy are the cornerstone of OC management; however, after a partial initial response, tumors invariably relapse. Therapeutic approaches should account for interindividual heterogeneity since OC histiotypes show distinct genetic profile. A2780 cell line has been annotated as high grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC); nevertheless, recent research underlined that the genetic ...

HCC is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. Local approaches are generally preferred for patients whose disease is restricted to the liver. In patients with extrahepatic disease systemic therapy can be considered. Chemotherapy did not demonstrate convincing survival advantages in several trails for HCC patients. Presently, the kinase inhibitor sorafenib is the only approved systemic target therapy for the treatment of advanced HCC. Mitotane (dichlorodiphenildichloroe...

HCC is a difficult-to-treat- cancer with poor prognosis. The recent EVOLVE-1 trial demonstrated that EVE did not improve overall survival in molecularly and clinically unselected patients with advanced HCC resistant to sorafenib treatment. In selected patients, the well-established antitumor effect of EVE could make this drug a potential adjuvant therapy. Unfortunately, the acquired resistance to this molecule due to the tumor adaptation to chronic drug use is a current challe...

Dopamine has been found in both semen and oviductal fluid and dopamine receptors (DRs) have been detected in male genital tract and spermatozoa, suggesting that dopamine system may control important reproductive functions in humans. Dopamine improves sperm motility and viability in animal models, although the underlying molecular mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. The aims of this study were to investigate DRs expression in human spermatozoa and to evaluate the in ...

Adrenal insufficiency (AI) requires life-long glucocorticoid (GC) treatment, which is associated with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome (MS), probably due to cortisol overexposure for multiple drug daily doses, together with an impairment of quality of life (QoL). Moreover treatment compliance (TC) is reported to be suboptimal in AI patients. The current study aimed at investigating the impact of the switch from twice/thrice daily conventional GCs to once daily dual-rele...

Somatostatin analogues (SA) are known to revert acromegalic cardiomyopathy mainly in young patients with short disease duration, whereas pegvisomant (PEG) reportedly improves cardiac structure and performance in patients resistant to SA. To date, no data are available on the effects of long-term SA+PEG on cardiovascular complications. The current study aimed at investigating the effects of long-term SA+PEG on cardiac structure and performance in acromegaly. Thirty-six acromega...

In patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency, life-long glucocorticoid (GC) treatment is often required to replace cortisol deficiency and to avoid the ACTH-dependent androgen levels increase. However, in these patients, the multiple daily doses required with conventional GCs can cause cortisol overexposure, leading to an increased risk of metabolic syndrome (MS), an impaired quality of life (QoL), and poor treatment compliance (TC). T...

Adrenocortical cancer (ACC) is a rare cancer with poor prognosis and scant treatment options. Mitotane alone, or in combination with cytotoxic chemotherapy, represents the referral current treatment for patients with unresectable ACC. Recent studies have shown that mTOR inhibitors suppress growth of ACC cells. This study aimed at evaluating the effects of mitotane in combination with mTOR inhibitors. In H295 and SW13 cells we tested the effects of a 6 day treatment with increa...

Introduction: High affinity binding of pasireotide for both sst2 and sst5 leads to its enhanced efficacy in treatment of acromegaly but results in decreased secretion of insulin, incretins (GLP-1 and GIP) and, to a lesser extent, glucagon. Metformin may be a good option in patients with acromegaly experiencing hyperglycaemia with pasireotide as it improves GLP-1 secretion. We analysed data from a 12-month, Phase III, randomised study in medically naï...

Somatostatin analogs (SSA) effectively control symptoms in neuroendocrine tumours (NET), besides showing antiproliferative activity. In progressive or metastatic NET, increasing SSA dose or shortening the dosing interval are common clinical practice, though empirical. Aim of this study is to evaluate efficacy and safety of high-dose SSA treatment in patients with progressive disease under standard SSA dose. Twenty-one patients (median age 56.8 years) with NET of different orig...