Endocrine Abstracts

Among patients with adrenal masses adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) and malignant pheochromocytomas (MPH) are found with a low incidence but very unfavourable prognosis. Owing to this poor clinical outcome, concomitant hormone dysregulation and limited treatment options the two cancer entities severely impact on affected patients. However, the rarity of the tumors also impedes clinical studies which are affected by fragmentation and low cohort sizes.The Eu...

The analysis of mRNA expression (transcriptome) and microRNAs represent powerful tools for elucidating the pathogenesis of tumours, establishment of biomarkers and identifying possible drug targets. Several studies have been performed to date on the mRNA expression profiles of adrenocortical tumours. Some studies on the transcriptome of phaeochromocytomas and the microRNA expression patterns in adrenocortical and adrenomedullary tumours have also been recently reported. Transc...

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare malignancy and most of the therapeutic strategies are not yet prospectively validated. However, several studies have been published in 2010 and preliminary results from two prospective trials are available now.Open adrenalectomy is treatment of choice for resectable tumors. However, two recent retrospective studies provided evidence that a laparoscopic approach might be also a safe alternative in selected cases (e...