Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Olfactory neuroblastoma (ONB), a neuroendocrine nasal tumour, exhibits a range of phenotypes from indolent to very aggressive. Even early disease is associated with high (60%) recurrence rates, while advanced disease has 1.5y disease-free and 2.5y overall mean survival. Medical treatments against primary and recurrent disease as well as prognostic biomarkers are urgently required. The few studies available suggest that mTOR/MAPK and Sonic Hedgehog signalling has a ...

Olfactory neuroblastoma (ONB) is a rare neuroendocrine tumour arising within the sino-nasal cavity. It occurs world wide, affecting both sexes, all ages and all races with no underlying predilection having yet been identified. ONB exhibits a range of phenotypes from indolent to very aggressive, and up to 5% cases are associated with ectopic hormone secretion. Despite current gold-standard treatment of surgical resection (either endoscopic or craniofacial resection) followed by...

Selective transsphenoidal adenomectomy remains the accepted first line treatment for Cushing’s disease (CD), until recently by microscopic (sublabial) transsphenoidal pituitary surgery. Endonasal transsphenoidal endoscopic surgery is emerging as a novel, less invasive treatment for pituitary adenomas with lower postoperative complications and morbidity. The safety of endoscopic surgery has been extensively reviewed in adult patients and is now considered best practice for...

A 24-year-old woman presented with stridor resulting from a large, firm, anterior neck mass. At age six she had been treated for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) with vincristine, prednisolone, daunorubicin, asparaginase, prophylactic cranial radiotherapy and intrathecal methotrexate. She also had primary hypothyroidism with strongly positive thyroid peroxidase antibodies.The mass had been gradually enlarging for 6 months, causing exertional breathles...

Background: Botulinum neurotoxin inhibits muscle function by interfering with neurotransmitter release from secretory vesicles. The mechanism underlying this effect involves cleavage of SNARE proteins which are required for vesicle docking at the plasma membrane. The ability of botulinum neurotoxin serotypes to cleave SNARE proteins and inhibit secretion is being exploited for therapeutic purposes by Syntaxin Ltd with their ‘targeted secretion inhibitor technology’ (...