Endocrine Abstracts

Endocrine late effects following cancer therapy are increasingly recognized. Due to the radio-sensitivity of the thyroid gland both long-term effects on thyroid function and growth have been described. This includes problems of thyroid growth and function. Particularly the development of secondary neoplasms of the thyroid is greatly increased some 10 to 30 years following irradiation. This affects predominantly children before and during puberty. The longitudinal use of thyroi...

The pathophysiology of thyroid nodules is still widely undefined even though recent data from microarray studies hint towards a distinct group of candidate genes. Furthermore, a better understanding of new mechanisms involved in thyroid growth regulation like TGF-β, BMP and wnt signalling may open new avenues for treatment. Recent data derived from animal models of thyroid carcinomas suggest an action of thyroid hormones despite the loss of TSH receptor. Upon confirmation...

The diagnosis of TED is not always obvious and its management can be a challenging. Diagnosis as well as treatment should be performed in a multidisciplinary setting. Decision on treatment is based on a careful assessment of ophthalmological symptoms and the evaluation of the clinical activity of the disease using the clinical activity score. TED is classified into mild, moderate and sight threatening disease. An active inflammatory disease stage is followed by an inactive sta...

GH replacement (GHR) has resulted in a significant improvement in quality of life for many adults with GH deficiency. Many of these patients are previously irradiated survivors of malignancy, and as such are at high risk of recurrent (RN) or secondary neoplasms (SN). There is a particularly strong association between CNS irradiation and subsequent development of meningiomas, which are known to express GH receptors. There is uncertainty as to whether GHR increases the risk of d...

With the advent of vaptans as a therapeutic option, rapid and precise diagnosis of SIADH is essential. SIADH due to paraneoplastic stimulation of AVP is an expected but not the only cause of hyponatraemia in cancer patients. Therefore a precise evaluation of the cause of hyponatraemia is necessary before any therapeutic approach. Using Copeptin, a stable marker of AVP, which is stoichiometrically released with AVP, we evaluated 49 patients with hyponatremia due to various form...

Copeptin is a stable AVP marker and stoichiometrically released with AVP. It closely reflects changes in water balance. Its stimulation in severe stress has recently has been suggested in various pathophysiological conditions including myocardial infarction and stroke. Paraneoplastic stimulation of AVP/copeptin is expected in patients with cancer leading to hyponatraemia due to SIADH.Here, we evaluated copeptin levels in 50 patients with hyponatraemia du...

Introduction: Obesity associated with the risks of metabolic syndrome is a rising problem in Western societies but shows a wide depot- and sex-specific variation. A better understanding of the regulatory mechanisms underlying this different depot- and sex-specific role is crucial to identify potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets. MicroRNAs are recently recognized important players in adipogenesis and fat metabolism. They post-transcriptionally regulate diverse biologica...

A positive expression of oestrogen-receptors has recently been demonstrated in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours as well as in non-neoplastic islet-cells. This prompted us to systematically analyse the expression of both oestrogen and progesterone receptors in a series of GEP neuroendocrine tumours. We analysed oestrogen- and progesterone-receptor in 69 foregut GEP, 25 midgut GEP and seven hindgut GEP. Namely, the foregut GEP included 53 pancreatic NET. All tumour samples were...

Background: Anaplastic thyroid-carcinomas (ATC) and a subset of papillary (PTC) and follicular (FTC) thyroid carcinomas behave aggressively showing metastatic spread and radio-resistance. Both the PI3K and HIF pathways are associated with aggressiveness and metastasis in thyroid carcinoma.Aims: To assess if the PI3K/HIF pathways contribute to radio-resistance and assess the effect of PI3K/HIF inhibition on radio-sensitivity and metastatic behaviour of th...

The majority of adult GH replaced patients reach target IGF1 levels using established injection devices. However, a small but significant cohort of these patients fail to achieve these intended goals. This can be manifested as either a failure to improve (biochemically or symptomatically) despite escalating GH doses, or large variations in IGF1 measurements despite steady GH dosing.The Easypod® device has a memory chip which allows record...