Endocrine Abstracts

Gliomas constitute the most frequent type of brain tumors and are characterized by a rapid growth and high diffusion through the brain. In particular, astrocytomas are a subtype of malignant gliomas that are graded from low to high aggressiveness (i.e. grade I, II, III and IV), being grade IV (glioblastoma multiforme, GBM) the most malignant type, and one of the most common cancers in the brain and CNS. To date, surgery is the first-line therapy combined with chemotherapy or r...

Antidiabetic biguanides, such as metformin (the most commonly prescribed drug to treat type 2 diabetes) and phenformin, are synthetic insulin-sensitizing agents. In addition to their well-known anti-hyperglycemic actions, biguanides are being also studied in other medical disorders due to the beneficial effects that they exert in important pathologies, including cardiovascular disease or different types of cancer. Although some scattered studies have suggested that metformin c...

Background: Gliomas are the most common primary brain tumor, being astrocytomas a subset of malignant gliomas graded on a scale of I to IV. Grade-IV astrocytomas (glioblastoma multiforme; GBM) are the most malignant and aggressive type. Current standard treatments are ineffective, being their average postoperative survival of 12-16 months. Therefore, there is a clear need for the identification of novel therapeutic targets to treat this pathology. In this context, the truncate...

Glioblastoma (GBM; grade IV astrocytoma) is one of the most devastating endocrine-related cancer worldwide based on its locally aggressive behavior and because it cannot be cured by current therapies. Therefore, the identification of novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, and especially efficient therapeutic targets is urgently needed. In this sense, defects in alternative splicing process are associated with poor survival and high aggressiveness in cancer, including GBM....

Pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas (PPGL) are commonly benign catecholamine-producing neuroendocrine tumors (NETs); however, up to 25 % of patients develop distant metastases or aggressive behavior. The current classification of PPGL comprises pseudohypoxia-profile, MAPK-pathway alteration, and Wnt-pathway dysregulation clusters according to their genomic characterization. However, to date, there are no biomarkers to help stratify patients based on their prognosis. Alternati...

Glioblastoma (GBM; grade IV astrocytoma) is the one of the most malignant and lethal endocrine-related cancers worldwide. Current standard treatment consists of surgery followed by radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy; however, this is only a palliative approach with a mean post-operative survival of scarcely ~12-15 months. Therefore, the identification of novel therapeutic targets to treat this devastating pathology is urgently needed. In this context, the truncated splicing-vari...

Lung neuroendocrine neoplasms (LungNENs) are highly heterogeneous tumors, which are classified by the WHO according to their histological grade into low grade: Typical Carcinoids (TC) and intermediate grade Atypical Carcinoids (AC), and high-grade: Large Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma (LCNEC) and Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC). Recently, a number of studies have tried to untangle the molecular features that define each subtype by applying different approaches, including genomic,...

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) represent a heterogeneous group of malignancies with increasing incidence worldwide, due in part to enhanced awareness and diagnosis improvements. Surgery is often effective for local disease, whereas disseminated or metastatic disease require pharmacological treatment, which is not always successful. Pancreatic (Pan-NETs) and pulmonary (Lung-NETs) neuroendocrine tumors frequently express somatostatin receptors (SSTs), providing the target for trea...

Lung neuroendocrine neoplasms (LungNENs) comprise a diverse group of rare tumors with a commonly difficult and late diagnosis, which often require complex management and treatment. The most frequently mutated genes in LungNENs have recently been identified, including known components of the chromatin-regulating pathways such as MEN1, PSIP1 and ARID1A, which are the subject of ongoing detailed studies. In contrast, other key regulatory mechanisms, par...

Pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas (PPGLs) are rare neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) that arise in the adrenal medulla and paraganglia, respectively. As occurs in the rest of NENs, PPGLs commonly present a high density of somatostatin receptors (SSTs) on their membrane. However, unlike in most NENs, somatostatin analogues (SSAs) do not represent a suitable therapeutic target in PPGLs, and the mechanisms underlying this mismatch are still unclear. In this study, we aim to iden...