Endocrine Abstracts

Neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) are a highly heterogeneous group of tumors that arise from the diffuse neuroendocrine system and whose incidence has increased over the last years. Among them, pancreatic NENs (PanNENs) are relatively common and one of the most studied NENs. PanNENs are characterized by a low number of mutations, with some genes frequently mutated, such as MEN1, ATRX/DAXX, and mTOR signaling pathway genes. Despite genomics, transcripto...

Lung carcinoids are slow-proliferating neuroendocrine neoplasms commonly showing low mutational burden but a high heterogeneity and difficult clinical management. Despite valuable advances in their molecular characterization, some aspects remain still unknown. Recent studies have shown that alternative splicing is severely dysregulated in lung carcinoids, where it could promote tumoral features. In contrast, the role of some molecular systems closely related to splicing and ot...

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) and carcinomas (NECs) are a heterogeneous group of malignances whose incidence is increasing worldwide. First-line approach is represented by surgery, whereas an effective pharmacological treatment for disseminated and relapsing disease is still needed. Somatostatin (SS) receptors (SSTs) constitute the main suitable pharmacological targets for NETs therapy with SS analogs (SSAs). Nevertheless, a large proportion of NETs and most NECs, are unrespons...

Pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs) are mostly benign lesions originating from the anterior pituitary and represent 10–15% of all the intracranial neoplasms. PitNETs can be classified in non-secretory, clinically non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs), and secretory, comprising prolactin (PRL), growth hormone (GH) and adrenocoticotropic hormone (ACTH) PitNETs. Surgical resection is the first line treatment for PitNETs, whereas chemotherapy and radiotherapy are p...

A growing number of studies suggest that extracellular fragments derived from plasma membrane receptors can play relevant functional roles in the development and progression of certain tumoral pathologies which might, therefore, serve as novel tools in the diagnostic and prognostic of such pathologies. In this scenario, the truncated somatostatin receptor sst5TMD4, which is overexpressed in various endocrine-related cancers (i.e. breast, prostate, neuroendocrine, liver and pit...

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) and type-2 diabetes (T2D) development is critically affected by the loss of phenotypic flexibility (i.e. the difficulty to cope with stressors to maintain metabolic homeostasis). Thus, it is essential to identify key modifiers of phenotypic plasticity that define individual susceptibility to develop T2D. Particularly, there is emerging evidence that alternative mRNA splicing is dysregulated under adverse metabolic-conditions, such as T2D, in several t...

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are uncommon neoplasms with increasing incidence and limited therapeutic options, wherein identification of new diagnostic/prognostic/therapeutic biomarkers is urgently required. Alterations in somatostatin (SST)/cortistatin (CORT) and ghrelin systems have been associated to development/progression of several cancers. Thus, we evaluated expression levels of SST/CORT/ghrelin system components in gastroenteropancreatic-neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs...

Pituitary adenomas (PA) comprise a commonly underestimated pathology in terms of incidence and associated morbimortality. Somatostatin and dopamine analogs constitute the main medical treatment for PA. However, an appreciable subset of patients are resistant or poorly responsive to these drugs, and hence, the search for new therapies to control tumor growth and/or hormone secretion is crucial. Biguanides such as metformin (MF; commonly used to treat type-2 diabetes), phenformi...

Somatostatin (SST) and cortistatin (CORT) are two highly related neuropeptides involved in the regulation of several endocrine secretions. In particular, SST and CORT are two primary negative regulators of GH secretion. Consequently, SST or CORT knockout (KO) mice exhibit elevated GH levels; however, this does not lead to increased IGF-I levels or somatic growth, which has been suggested that could be due to a compensatory mechanism between both peptides. In order to test this...

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs) are uncommon neoplasms from the endocrine pancreas, whose incidence is recently rising. Unfortunately, an advanced stage is often found at diagnosis; thus, identification of new molecular diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic markers is required. Ghrelin and somatostatin/cortistatin systems are two multifunctional regulatory complexes widely distributed throughout multiple tissues, including the pancreas, where they exert diverse (pat...