Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Acromegaly is the consequence of excessive growth hormone (GH) secretion, usually produced by a pituitary adenoma. Transphenoidal surgery is the first-choice treatment; however, the development of new drug therapies in the last years, specially the somatostatin analogues (SSA), has open new and promising avenues for the treatment of pituitary tumors.Objective: To determine whether a detailed knowledge of the clinico-pathological and radiologi...

Endocrine-related cancers comprise a complex group of heterogeneous pathologies whose development and progression are profoundly conditioned by endocrine–metabolic deregulations. The well-known capacity of somatostatin (SST) to inhibit hormone secretion and cell proliferation in a wide variety of cell types, coupled to the ubiquitous expression of SST receptors (ssts) in normal and tumoral tissues, has led SST analogs (SSAs) to be extensively used in clinical practice for...

Somatostatin (SST) and its related peptide cortistatin (CORT) exert multiple physiological actions through binding to a family of G-protein coupled receptors (sst1–sst5), commonly bearing seven transmembrane domains (TMDs). However, we have recently discovered that human, pig and rodent sst5 gene also generate, through non-canonical alternative splicing, novel truncated albeit functional sst5 variants that lack one o more TMDs. Our studies indicate that truncated sst5 var...

Objective: Obesity and overweight persist in patients with Cushing’s disease (CD) in remission, its persistence seems to be related to the duration of the disease. The aim of this study was to describe the persistence of overweight/obesity in patients with CD in remission and their relation to the duration of the disease.Patients and methods: Descriptive study of patients with CD (1995-2015). Variables analyzed: age, sex, body mass index (BMI), time...

Neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) are a highly heterogeneous group of tumors that arise from the diffuse neuroendocrine system and whose incidence has increased over the last years. Among them, pancreatic NENs (PanNENs) are relatively common and one of the most studied NENs. PanNENs are characterized by a low number of mutations, with some genes frequently mutated, such as MEN1, ATRX/DAXX, and mTOR signaling pathway genes. Despite genomics, transcripto...

Lung carcinoids are slow-proliferating neuroendocrine neoplasms commonly showing low mutational burden but a high heterogeneity and difficult clinical management. Despite valuable advances in their molecular characterization, some aspects remain still unknown. Recent studies have shown that alternative splicing is severely dysregulated in lung carcinoids, where it could promote tumoral features. In contrast, the role of some molecular systems closely related to splicing and ot...

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) and carcinomas (NECs) are a heterogeneous group of malignances whose incidence is increasing worldwide. First-line approach is represented by surgery, whereas an effective pharmacological treatment for disseminated and relapsing disease is still needed. Somatostatin (SS) receptors (SSTs) constitute the main suitable pharmacological targets for NETs therapy with SS analogs (SSAs). Nevertheless, a large proportion of NETs and most NECs, are unrespons...

Introduction: The duration of hypercortisolism in Cushing’s disease (CD) appears to be inversely related to the reversibility of complications, which in turn increase mortality. This makes it necessary to identify medical therapies capable of normalizing cortisol overproduction before transsphenoidal surgery. The aim of this study was to determine if the clinical data of patients with CD before surgery allow predicting the presence and/or abundance of somatostatin (ssts) ...

Pituitary adenomas (PA) comprise a commonly underestimated pathology in terms of incidence and associated morbimortality. Somatostatin and dopamine analogs constitute the main medical treatment for PA. However, an appreciable subset of patients are resistant or poorly responsive to these drugs, and hence, the search for new therapies to control tumor growth and/or hormone secretion is crucial. Biguanides such as metformin (MF; commonly used to treat type-2 diabetes), phenformi...

Acromegaly is caused by excessive GH secretion from pituitary adenomas. Transphenoidal surgery is the first-choice treatment, but new drug therapies (e.g. somatostatin analogues, SSA) offer promising avenues for medical treatment. Complementary diagnostic tools may assist this strategy, helping to refine drug choice. Here, we investigate the associations between radiological features and molecular phenotype of pituitary tumours from acromegalic patients. This observational stu...