Endocrine Abstracts

Neuroendocrine tumors (NET) comprise a wide variety of neoplasms that have certain characteristics in common. However, they are defined not by site but by molecular characteristics. The most common forms arise in the gastrointestinal tract, but there are NET which are not directly related to this site, such as medullary cell carcinoma or small-cell lung cancer. Different secretory syndromes have also resulted in certain subtypes receiving names as carcinoid if they produce ser...

Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) can occur after treatment for acromegaly. It is unclear whether treatment with recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) in these patients is beneficial. Patients were randomized to either 1 year of rhGH replacement (n=10) or placebo followed by rhGH replacement for 1 year (delayed rhGH treatment, n=6). Sixteen patients (8 men, mean age 56 years) with GHD after treatment for acromegaly were studied. Study parameters were assessed at ...

Background: Clinically non-functioning pituitary macroadenomas (NFMA) have been reported to express various somatostatin receptor (SSTR) subtypes, but results are inconsistent across different studies. This may be related to limited sensitivity and specificity of techniques used to date, i.e. immunohistochemistry in surgical specimens and 111In-DTPA-octreotide scintigraphy (Octreoscan) in vivo. The aim of this study was to assess SSTR expression in NFMA <em...

Rationale: At present, there is no approved medical treatment for patients with clinically non-functioning pituitary adenoma. A number of open-label studies suggest that treatment with somatostatin analogues may prevent tumour progression in selected patients. In vivo assessment of somatostatin receptor status using 68Ga-DOTATATE PET could help to select patients responsive to treatment.Trial objective: To investigate the effect of the somatosta...