Endocrine Abstracts

Background: The incidence of neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) in younger populations (<50 years) is increasing and was 1.8 per 100,000 persons in 2011. There is limited data on NENs and pregnancy.Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on pregnant women with NENs managed in an ENETS Centre of Excellence. The objectives of the study were to describe the tumour characteristics, pregnancy outcomes, treatment and the tumour behaviour intra-pregnan...

Introduction: Data on the mortality of patients with non-functioning pituitary macroadenoma (NFA) are limited. Aim: To assess the mortality of patients with NFA and predictive factors.Patients/methods: All patients presenting to our Department with NFA between 1963 and 2011 were studied. Status was recorded as either dead or alive, as of 31 December 2011.Results: 546 patients (333 males) were identified (median age at surgery 58.7 ...

Introduction: Data on the mortality of patients with non-functioning pituitary macroadenoma (NFA) are very limited.Aim: To assess the mortality of patients with NFA and factors predicting it.Patients and methods: All patients presenting to our department with NFA between 1963 and 2011 were studied. Status was recorded as either dead or alive, as of 31st December 2011.Results: 546 patients (333 males) were ide...

Introduction: Loss-of-function mutations in AIP are associated with familial isolated pituitary adenoma, often leading to gigantism due to invasive GH-secreting pituitary adenomas. One challenging problem in the management of patients carrying a missense AIP variant is to determine whether the missense variant is a disease-causing mutation or not. As most of the molecular mechanisms involved in the control of growth and the cell cycle are well-conserved, we p...

Introduction: Bone mineral density (BMD) and fracture tendency are influenced by diet, activity, drugs, and hormones. Recent studies highlight an inverse relationship between serotonin and BMD, of uncertain mechanism.Purpose: We investigated the relationship between serotonin metabolites and BMD in patients with sporadic neuroendocrine tumours (NETs), with and without the carcinoid syndrome.Materials and methods: One-year prospecti...

Background: Somatostatin analogues are very useful in the treatment of symptomatic neuroendocrine tumours, but effects on proliferation remain unclear. Overexpression of the proto-oncogene protein kinase Akt has been demonstrated in certain endocrine tumours, and activates downstream proteins including mTOR and p70S6K, which play a significant role in cell growth and proliferation. We have therefore explored the site of action of somatostatin in causing inhibition of prolifera...

Background: Cushing’s syndrome results from chronic exposure to excessive levels of glucocorticoids (GC). The clinical manifestations associated with hypercortisolaemia are variable and differ widely in severity, including hypertension, apparent obesity and metabolic aberrations such as diabetes, dyslipidaemia, ultimately leading to changes similar to the metabolic syndrome. We hypothesised that GC might influence the expression of the genes involved in lipogenesis and gl...

Background/objective: Published data suggest that growth hormone replacement (GHR) may be safely given to patients with hypopituitarism consequent upon a pituitary/peri-pituitary tumour. However, to date, these series have included a preponderance of patients treated with external pituitary irradiation. We have performed a retrospective study to evaluate the recurrence rate in a group of patients with pituitary/peripituitary tumours treated with GHR.Meth...

Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHP), usually due to multigland hyperplasia, occurs in >90% of patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1). The literature is divided on the optimal surgical management for such patients. We report a retrospective cohort study on the long-term outcomes associated with limited, subtotal, or total parathyroidectomy as initial surgery for PHP in MEN1. The primary endpoint was recurrent PHP defined as an adjusted serum calcium >2.6 mmol/l ...

Introduction and aim: Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (PNETs) may occur sporadically (sPNETs) or as part of the multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1(MEN1) syndrome, which is characterised by occurrence of PNETs, parathyroid and anterior pituitary tumours. Our aim was to review the management of these patients in relation to the clinical practice MEN1 guidelines, and the ENETS and UKINETS guidelines for PNETs.Patients and methods: Patients attending with...