Endocrine Abstracts

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...

Introduction: It has been demonstrated that mTOR inhibitors have potent anti-proliferative effects in a human Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma (MTC) cell lines. We here explore the possible role of mTOR inhibitors, Everolimus and BEZ235 (which also inhibits the PI3K pathway) on the effects of Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) in human MTC primary cultures.Aims: To this purpose, 20 MTCs primary cultures, were treated without or with 1 uM Everolimus, 10 nM B...

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC), a rare tumor, with incidence of 1–2 per million population annually, has a bimodal distribution by age, with cases clustering in children under 6, and in adults 30–40 years old. ACC has a dismal prognosis. The only curative treatment is complete surgical excision of the tumor, but late diagnosis prevents surgical cure, since ACC frequently recurs and metastasize. Chemotherapy is frequently ineffective, due to the overexpression of the ...

The currently curative therapy for pancreatic endocrine tumours (PET), accounting for <3% of pancreatic tumors, is complete surgical resection, which is achieved in the minority of cases. Most tumors are diagnosed in a late stage, especially in endocrine-inactive forms, indicating the need for further medical therapy. The serine–threonine protein kinase C (PKC) family plays central regulatory roles in several cellular processes, including cell proliferation. PKC signa...

Introduction: Bronchial carcinoids (BCs), originating from endocrine cells dispersed in the respiratory epithelium, can be divided into typical (TBC) and atypical (ABC). TBC are less aggressive, smaller, and much less likely to metastasize, while ABC are more aggressive and metastasize. mTOR has a central role in regulating cell growth, metabolism, and apoptosis. A differential mTOR activation in BCs has been previously demonstrated, suggesting that mTOR pathway might play a p...

GH and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) are known to promote breast carcinogenesis. Breast cancer (BC) incidence in not increased in female acromegalic patients, but mortality is greater as compared to general population. We previously demonstrated that GH/IGF1 excess influences BC response to therapy, possibly accounting for the increased mortality. We indeed showed that GH and IGF1 induce cell proliferation of a BC cell line, the MCF7 cells, providing protection towards t...