Endocrine Abstracts

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths among men population worldwide. This tumour pathology is commonly diagnosed through the determination of serum PSA levels. However, the diagnostic capability of PSA dramatically drops when considering patients with PSA levels lower than 10 ng/ml, the so-called “grey-zone”1. Therefore, additional non-invasive diagnostic biomarkers are urgently needed to substitute/complement PSA. In this se...

Astrocytomas are a subtype of malignant gliomas characterized by rapid growth and high diffusion through the brain. Based on the agresiveness features, they are stratified from low grades (I and II) to high grades (HGAs; III and IV), being grade-IV [glioblastoma multiforme (GBM)] the most aggressive and one of the most common malignant cancers in the brain, with an overall survival from diagnosis of ~14 months. Current standard therapies to treat HGAs are not efficient and the...

Background: Somatostatin (SST)/Cortistatin (CORT) system is a complex hormonal axis involved in the progression of several tumor types. However, its role has not been explored in prostate cancer (PCa), one of the most common type among men.Objectives: We aimed to investigate the presence and the pathophysiological role of SST/CORT in PCa.Methods: We analysed functional parameters in response to SST and CORT and to CORT-silencing in...

Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common causes of cancer-related deaths in men worldwide. Early detection of PCa faces severe limitations as PSA displays poor-specificity. Therefore, new diagnostic and therapeutic alternatives are urgently needed.Objectives: This work was aimed to investigate the miRNA landscape in PCa and explore their putative diagnostic/therapeutic utility.Methods: The miRNome of plasma sampl...

Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis is based on the serum levels of prostatic specific antigen (PSA), which might be influenced by many clinical conditions, including obesity. In addition, the diagnostic capability of PSA test dramatically drops when considering patients with PSA levels lower than 10ng/mL (i.e. “grey-zone”). Therefore, the identification of more reliable non-invasive diagnostic biomarkers for PCa is a critical unmet clinical need. In this sce...

Background: Glioblastomas (GBMs) remain the deadliest human brain tumors, with a poor prognosis despite years of research. Currently, standard therapeutic strategies to treat GBM are not efficient, and the overall survival is ˜14 months. Thus, the identification of new therapeutic tools to battle GBMs is crucial. In this sense, many metabolic drugs (e.g., metformin (MF) and simvastatin (SVT)) have emerged as putative antitumor agents for certain endocrine-related cancers,...

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is the most common cause of chronic liver disease and is the leading cause of liver-related morbidity and mortality. MASLD is rapidly becoming a major aetiology for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common liver cancer. As the incidence of MASLD continues to rise, it is crucial to understand the molecular alterations that lead to HCC. Previous studies have revealed a significant alterati...

Emerging evidence indicates that the cellular machineries controlling gene expression mechanisms and genomic stability are altered in several endocrine-related cancers (ERCs), leading to some oncogenic events associated with tumour progression/aggressiveness. However, whether this phenomenon also occurs in thyroid cancer has not been yet explored. Therefore, this study was focused on: 1) investigating the potential alteration in the levels of components of the molecular machin...

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common endocrine-related cancers (ERCs) among men worldwide. The aggressiveness of this tumor pathology is highly influenced by different endocrine-related factors, highlighting the crucial role of androgens. Therefore, the main therapeutic approach for PCa patients is based on the pharmacological blockade of androgen-signaling. However, some patients become unresponsive and develop a highly lethal castration-resistant disease, pointing...

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNETs) are heterogeneous neoplasms with a relatively low but increasing incidence, mainly due to the difficulty in diagnosing this disease in its early stages. This notably complicates the treatment of this pathology and leads to a poor prognosis. One of the main reasons for this problem is the lack of adequate diagnostic biomarkers as well as effective therapeutic targets. In this sense, there is still a limited knowledge about alternative ...