Endocrine Abstracts

Tumorigenesis and intermediary metabolism have a long common history. Eighty years ago, the biochemist Otto Warburg pioneered a large field of researches devoted to the metabolism of tumour cells. He reported a spectacular shift from a normal aerobic metabolism to a highly glycolytic metabolism, associated with a low respiration rate, despite aerobic conditions. After being forgotten for decades, a renewed interest in the Warburg effect has resulted from the report that, mitoc...

Predisposition to phaeochromocytoma is a feature of germline succinate dehydrogenase subunit mutations (SDHB, SDHC and SDHD), von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease, multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) types 2A and 2B and neurofibromatosis type 1. However, although each of these disorders is associated with phaeochromocytoma they differ with respect to susceptibility to other associated tumours, However despite this clinical heterogeneity, there is evidence for sh...

Inhibiting tumor angiogenesis by targeting the activity of angiogenic growth factors, especially the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A signalling pathway, is a new promising therapeutic strategy for patients with different cancer types. Several VEGF inhibitors have been developed including a humanized anti-VEGF-A monoclonal antibody (bevacizumab), an anti-VEGFR-2 antibody, a VEGF receptor chimeric protein and various small molecules inhibiting VEGFR-2 signal transduc...

Pheochromocytoma (Pheo) is a chromaffin tumor of the adrenal gland. When extra-adrenal, the tumor is called paraganglioma (PGL). At present, the only objective criterion for malignancy is the presence of metastases (i.e. spreading of the tumor in bones, liver, lungs or lymph-nodes where chromaffin tissue is normally absent). Extensive invasion of adjacent tissues can be considered only an indicator of malignant potential as well as high cellularity, necrosis, vascular/capsular...