Endocrine Abstracts

Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a rare tumor arising from neural crest-derived parafollicular C cells. MTC occurs either in sporadic or familial form. A key role in the development of MTC is played by the RET proto-oncogene, as virtually all familial and half sporadic MTC cases feature RET point mutations. These mutations lead to the constitutive activation of the RET kinase and its oncogene conversion. Mutations targeting extracellular cysteines cause disulfide-bond medi...

There are four major types of thyroid cancer: well-differentiated papillary (PTC) and follicular (FTC) carcinoma, undifferentiated anaplastic carcinoma (ATC), and neural-crest derived medullary carcinoma (MTC). In the past two decades, some genetic lesions associated with these tumor types have been unveiled, with mutations in RET and BRAF, RAS and PPARγ, RAS, BRAF and PI3K/AKT, and RET, associated to PTC, FTC, ATC and MTC, respectively. PTC and FTC patients are treated b...

Recent studies demonstrated that the calcium/calmodulin dependent kinase 2 (CaMKII) is involved in the regulation of proliferation and survival of epithelial cells, were it phosphorylates RAF-1 and modulates MAPK pathway. A endogenous CaMKII inhibitor (hCaKIINα) is expressed in some cell types. It is down-expressed in colon and in ovarian cancer where it inversely correlates with the disease extension.Aim of our study is to determine the possible ro...