Endocrine Abstracts

Pituitary adenomas (PAs) are benign neoplasms that comprise 10–20% of all intracranial tumors. Mutations in the aryl hydrocarbon receptor interacting protein (AIP) have been identified to cause a small subset of hereditary PAs. To study the mechanisms of tumor formation in patients with AIP-mutated PAs we conducted a miRNA array analysis comparing AIP-mutated PAs with AIP-wild type PAs. We found a novel and specific set of miRNAs differentially expressed between the two g...

Germline AIP mutations (AIPmut) predispose to young onset somatotroph pituitary adenomas (GHPA) and gigantism. AIPmut GHPA are often aggressive and resistant to pharmacological treatment, which may be especially challenging in the paediatric setting. We report our experience with two young Italian AIPmut male patients with incipient gigantism due to childhood pituitary macroadenomas, who both experienced recurrent ...

Introduction: Breast cancer affects less than 1% of all male cancer patients. In 5–20% of cases, genetic predisposition is involved, mostly due to mutations of the BRCA2 gene. Hormonal imbalance between oestrogens and androgens is another predisposing factor. Male-to-female (MtF) transsexual patients usually undergo long-term cross-sex hormone therapy, which could expose them to higher risks of developing hormonally-dependent cancers.We rep...

Pituitary gigantism is a rare condition caused by growth hormone secreting lesions, where treatment is usually challenging, especially in cases with genetic predisposition. Aim: We studied a gigantism cohort from Venezuela for genetic defects and their response to treatment. Subjects: 160 somatotropinoma patients were evaluated at the University hospital (from 1985–2015); eight (6M) were diagnosed with acrogigantism and underwent genetic analysis including aCGH for Xq26.3...

Introduction: Intracranial germ-cell tumors (GCT) are rare, occurring in less than 4% of pediatric patients. Histologically, they are divided into several types, among which germinomatous GCTs represent over 50% of cases. Depending on their location, GCTs usually present with symptoms of intracranial hypertension for pineal lesions, whereas suprasellar ones lead to visual disturbances or pituitary hormonal defects.We present the case of a bifocal intracr...

Disorders of calcium metabolism arise in a familial or sporadic setting. The resulting hypo- or hypercalcemia can induce serious clinical features. Calcium sensing receptor (CaSR) plays a key role in maintaining this balance and its molecular investigation is useful to determine the nature of a certain condition or to choose the appropriate therapeutic approach.In the present study we reported two clinical cases. A 16-year-old patient had a mild hypercal...

Background: Parathyroid carcinoma (PCa) is a rare disease that can be difficult to differentiate initially from benign parathyroid adenoma. PCa over-secrete the amino form of parathyroid hormone (PTH), which is recognized by 3rd generation but not by 2nd generation (‘intact’) PTH assays. In normal individuals, the 3rd generation/2nd generation PTH ratio should always be <1.Material and methods: We studied the utility of the 3rd generation/2...

Introduction: Heterozygous mutations in the AIP gene are associated with young-onset pituitary adenomas while homozygous loss of AIP in animal models is lethal. As early diagnosis could lead to better outcomes, family members of AIP mutation-positive patients need follow up. The R304Q variant is commonly described as pathogenic based on clinical assessment. However, it is also present in the general population (minor-allele-frequency (MAF) 0.0007&#15...

Introduction: Pituitary gigantism is a rare disorder caused by GH-secreting lesions.Aim: We studied gigantism for genetic defects.Methods: We performed genome-wide analyses in 46 patients with gigantism and 248 patients with acromegaly.Results: We detected a novel microduplication at chromosome Xq26.3 in two unrelated kindreds and 13 sporadic cases de novo. All patients had disease onset before five ...

Aim: To analyse a large series of patients with pituitary gigantism.Materials and methods: We included in this multicentre study 158 patients (129 males) with pituitary adenoma (PA) or hyperplasia and current/previous abnormal, excessively rapid growth velocity for age or a final height greater than 2 SD above normal for their population. Data of patients were systematically recorded in case report forms.Results: The...