Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors have revolutionized the treatment of metastatic melanoma, demonstrating durable responses, but can result in immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Endocrinopathies are amongst the more common adverse events, and thyroid dysfunction and hypophysitis being the most frequent; the latter of these has been positively correlated with oncological outcome. This study compared overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and disease c...

Background: A major challenge in the management of breast cancer (BC) is the search for biomarkers that are sensitive and less invasive. miRNAs are reported to be tissue-specific, stable and aberrantly expressed in different tumours, hence their emerging role as potential biomarkers in BC management.Objective: The study focused on developing an in-house method for the detection of mir-145 and mir-21 using SYBR Gre...

Introduction: Obesity is associated with increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk but the underlying pathways are unclear. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are circulating submicron particles containing proteins, enzymes and mRNA of their donor cells. They could mediate some of these risks by paracrine actions in target cells.Aims: To compare the concentration and characteristics of circulating EVs from healthy volunteers (HV)...

Introduction: The predominant management of beta-thalassemia major is repeated blood transfusions but this runs the risk of haemosiderosis leading to multiple endocrinopathies. Iron chelation therapy can reduce this risk, however universal access is poor. Case Presentation: An 18 year old male with “type 1 diabetes” was referred to Young Adult Diabetes Clinic having arrived to the UK from Syria 10 days previously. The only past medical history ...

History: We present the case of a 47-year-old man with heart failure (HF) and cranial diabetes insipidus (CDI) secondary to Langerhans-cell-histiocytosis. In the context of worsening HF with increasing shortness of breath and fluid retention, careful desmopressin dose reduction provided adequate aquaresis to restore euvolemia, obviating the need for usual diuretic treatments.Investigations: Echocardiography and a cardiac MRI revealed a non-dilated but se...

Introduction: Alternative biofluids such as sweat, which can be obtained non-invasively and present a simpler matrix composition than serum/plasma or urine, may be useful for monitoring biomarkers. The long-term sampling with patches either on the chest or back can be conveniently used under both rest and exercise conditions to provide an integrated response of free biomarkers over the course of a day. The smaller sample volumes generated by sweat collection can be convenientl...

Background: As per 2014 Endocrine Society guidelines, 131I-MIBG therapy is usually reserved for metastatic or unresectable disease in patients with pheochromocytoma / paraganglioma. In this series, we describe three patients effectively treated with primary 131I-MIBG therapy. The indications were primary neo-adjuvant therapy prior to surgery, or palliative.Case series: Case 1 – 18-year-old male with a 60 mm para-aortic paragang...

Background: Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (P-NETs) are a rare cancer with increasing incidences worldwide. Low-grade P-NETs are unique in that they express high levels of Somatostatin Receptor Type 2 (SSTR2), which represents a target for both tumor imaging and therapeutics. P-NET grade inversely correlates with SSTR2 tumor staining, and higher tumor grade is associated with poor patient prognosis. Unfortunately, application of SSTR2-targeted treatment options is currently ...

Maturation of the definitive adrenal cortex occurs between 3 and 6 weeks post-partum and involves onset of CYP11B2 expression and establishment of the laminin-encased 3D structure of glomeruli that contain rosettes of 10 to 15 zona glomerulosa (zG) cells that work in coordination to produce optimal amounts of aldosterone. Although this process is dependent on canonical WNT/b-catenin signaling, cellular sources of WNT ligands remain elusive and the mechanisms involved in the ex...

Bioluminescence is bringing new and exciting possibilities to the field of endocrine surgery, because we are able to better harness the property of autofluorescence of the parathyroid glands. Parathyroid glands have an inherent ability to produce infra-red autofluorescence at the wavelength of 820 nm to 830 nm, if the gland absorbs light at the wavelength of 750 nm. With highly sensitive technology and the ability to filter out other reflected light and noise, it is now possib...