Endocrine Abstracts

Malignant pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PPGLs) are rare diseases with a heterogeneous behaviour. 131I-MIBG therapy and the cyclophosphamide-dacarbazine-vincristine chemotherapy regimen (CVD) constitute the most popular options in the metastatic setting. We have investigated the antitumor effect of temozolomide (TMZ), in patients with metastatic PPGLs. Efficacy was primary endpoint, safety and identification for prognosis factors of response were secondary endpoints.<...

Context: GH and insulin-like growth factor (IGF1) play important roles in breast cancer (BC) development. IGF1 has been shown to importantly influence estrogen effects on BC, suggesting that estrogen receptors (ER) may mediate also GH effects. We previously demonstrated that GH and IGF1 protect the ER positive BC-derived MCF7 cell line towards the cytotoxic effects of doxorubicin (D), independently of IGF1.Aim of the study: Evaluate whether this holds tr...

Adrenocortical Cancer (ACC) is characterized by an increased production of insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) and by estrogen receptor (ER) α up-regulation. Aim of this study was to define IGF2 and estrogen signaling interactions in ACC, in order to give new indications for a better therapy. To this aim we used H295R cells and human ACC tissues which display common features: IGF2 activation of downstream effector pathways and over-expression of estrogen-related genes inc...

Menin is the product of the multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) gene which when inactivated causes an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by tumors of the parathyroids, endocrine pancreas and anterior pituitary.We identified an MEN1 splice-site mutation leading to a menin Δ(184–218) mutant having an in-frame deletion of 35 amino acids, but otherwise of wild-type sequence. The transfected mutant was well expressed, and like wild-typ...

Background: Although biochemical diagnosis of endogenous hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia is straightforward, surgical removal of an insulinoma is hampered by difficulties to localize it using conventional radiological procedures (endosonography, MRI, CT-imaging techniques).In vitro data suggest that human insulinoma cells exhibit a high density of GLP-1R. 111In-exendin-4 is a 111In labeled GLP-1R agonist that binds with high affinity to GLP-1R and m...

Somatostatin analogs (SSAs) such as octreotide (OCT) are currently effective in controlling most hypersecretion associated symptoms of Gastoenteropancreatic-neuroendocrinetumors (GEP-NETs). The results of the phase IIIb PROMID trial showed that OCT doubled time to progression for patients with metastatic neuroendocrine midgut tumors compared with placebo. SSAs act on different intracellular pathways through different somatostatin receptor (Sst) subtypes. While OCT is mainly an...