Endocrine Abstracts

In chronic diseases patient (pat) often need continuous med treatment. In acromegaly and neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NET), long term monthly injections of somatostatin analogues as Sandostatin® LAR® (SA®) are the treatment of choice. Problems regarding pat management and drug application might arise in not-specialized centers such as general practicioners (GP). To optimize pat’ management and compliance a homecare project* wa...

Background: Since signs and symptoms of pheochromocytomas are unspecific, diagnosis is crucially dependent on biochemical evidence of excessive catecholamine production. Diagnostic workup was previously based on measurement of urinary catecholamines. Subsequently it was shown that pheochromocytomas contain high amounts of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), the enzyme that converts epinephrine to metanephrine and norepinephrine to normetanephrine. This metabolism occur...

Aim: Somatostatin mediates its effects via five known receptor subtypes sst1-sst5. The somatostatin analogue octreotide, which binds preferentially to sst2 and to a lesser extent to sst3 and sst5, may be used prior to surgery of GH-secreting tumors. To investigate the variable response rates of such treatment, we analyzed sst expression levels in tumor tissue.Methods: 44 patients with acromegaly (20m, 24f, 48.7+/...

Objectives: The insulin tolerance test (ITT) is considered the gold standard to evaluate corticotropic function in patients with suspected pituitary disease, but is limited by several contraindications. As an alternative, we evaluated the diagnostic value of basal cortisol in serum and saliva.Methods: volunteers (V) and 61 patients with suspected pituitary disease (P) were enrolled into this study. Basal serum and saliva samples were collected simultaneo...

Aim: Progressive medullary (MTC) or iodine-negative papillary (PTC) or follicular (FTC) thyroid carcinomas present a challenge due to limited treatment options. The aim of this study was to evaluate the response to chemotherapy with doxorubicin.Methods: 22 patients (12 female, 10 male, mean 61 years) with PTC or FTC received chemotherapy with doxorubicin. Tumors were histologically classified as follicular in 14 (64%) patients, including 6 (27%) oncocyta...

Aim: Metastatic medullary (MTC) or iodine-negative papillary (PTC) or follicular (FTC) thyroid carcinomas present a challenge due to limited treatment options. We prospectively compared various staging procedures that may be necessary to define extent and progress of the disease.Methods: 31 patients were included (9×MTC, 8×PTC, 14×FTC). Staging procedures included CTs of chest, abdomen, and CNS, 18FGD-PET, and bone scan. Tumor s...

Background: Cushing’s disease is associated with high morbidity and mortality, and there are currently no approved medical therapies. Twice-daily pasireotide sc showed efficacy in patients with mostly moderate-to-severe (UFC≥2×ULN) Cushing’s disease in a large, randomized, double-blind, 12-month trial. A monthly long-acting release (LAR) formulation of pasireotide has been developed to provide a smoother pharmacokinetic profile, potentially a better effica...

For somatostatin, five receptor subtypes (sst1-5) have been identified that are widely distributed in various endocrine tissues and tumors. Potent somatostatin analogs like octreotide, lanreotide and the new multiligand SOM230 – with different binding properties to the receptor subtypes - have been developed. We examined somatostatin receptor protein expression in 134 pituitary tumors of various etiologies. Immunostaining was performed with specific polyclonal anti...

Introduction: Patients with Cushing’s disease (CD) have an increased risk of hypertension (HTN). phase III data have shown that pasireotide leads to rapid reductions in UFC levels and significant improvements in CD symptoms. We now present further analyses of these data, evaluating the effects of pasireotide on HTN in patients with CD.Methods: Patients with persistent/recurrent or de novo (if not surgical candidates) CD and UFC≥1.5 time...

Introduction: Pasireotide is a multi-receptor targeted somatostatin analogue with high affinity for sst5, which is commonly expressed in corticotroph adenomas, thus having potential as therapy for Cushing’s disease.Methods: One hundred and sixty-two patients with persistent/recurrent or de novo (if not surgical candidates) Cushing’s disease were randomized (double-blind) to pasireotide 600 μg (n=82) or 900 μg ...