Endocrine Abstracts

Phaeochromocytomas are catecholamine-secreting tumors that usually arise from the adrenal medulla. Catecholamine-secreting tumors may also develop in retroperitoneal, pelvic or thoracic paraganglia. Here, we use the term phaeochromocytoma for catecholamine-secreting adrenal or extra-adrenal tumors. Before 2000, 10 to 15% of the patients with phaeochromocytoma were reported to have family or phenotypic evidence of a hereditary disease: multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN2;...

Tissue samples from adrenal tumors provide the basis for standard diagnostic procedures such as pathological examination. In addition, these tumor samples have been an invaluable source for the discovery of novel molecular pathways involved in adrenal tumorigenesis. Information on the molecular phenotype are based on DNA mutation analysis and epigenetic changes, RNA and protein expression pattern and sub-cellular localization as well as post transcriptional protein modificatio...