Endocrine Abstracts

Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) represents the majority of differentiated thyroid cancers, presenting in 29–83% of cases the activating BRAF V600E mutation. The aim of our study was to analyse the influence of BRAF V600E mutation analysis on diagnostic accuracy of fine needle aspiration biopsies (FNAB) in clinically unsuspected thyroid nodules. We therefore enrolled 496 patients (383 females, 113 males; mean age 52 years), for a total of 671 samples. FNAB were evaluated by...

The effectiveness of glucocorticoid replacement therapy is based on clinical criteria, since objectives parameters are not standardized. The purpose of our study was to assess the adequacy of replacement therapy with cortisone acetate, trying to identify parameters indicating proper replacement. We studied 22 patients with adrenal insufficiency (7 primary and 15 secondary) treated with cortisone acetate (mean daily dose 36.5+/−2.1 mg at 0800 a.m. and 0300 p.m.), and six ...

Introduction: Accurately discern malignant from benign nodules sometimes represents a real challenge. Fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy, ultrasound and The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (BSRTC) allow for accurate diagnosis in 60–80% of all nodules. However, 10–20% of thyroid FNAs yield an indeterminate cytology (BSRTC III and IV categories). The real malignancy rate of BSRTC III category is difficult to ascertain because histopathological anal...

Background: Available medical treatments for Broncho-Pulmonary Neuroendocrine Neoplasm (BP-NENs) derived from clinical trials are not specific for the management of this malignancy. Sunitinib, a multi-receptor tyrosine-kinases (RTKs) inhibitor, mainly described as VEGFR inhibitor, has shown its efficacy in Pancreatic NENs but there are not available data about its action in BP-NENs. Our aim was to understand the effects of RTKs inhibition promoted by Sunitinib in order to eval...

Mitotane, used in the treatment of adrenocortical cancer (ACC), is able to inhibit multiple enzymatic steps of adrenocortical steroid biosynthesis, potentially causing adrenal insufficiency (AI). Recent studies in vitro have also documented a direct inhibitory effect of mitotane at the pituitary level.The aim of the study was to assess the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis in patients receiving mitotane as adjuvant treatment after radica...

Introduction: Medical therapy of Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (P-NETs) may take advantage from mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors. However, so far, the extent of therapeutic response cannot be predicted.Aim: To investigate the possible predictors of sensitivity to mTOR inhibitors in P-NETs.Materials and methods: P-NET primary cultures were treated with IGF1 and/or Everolimus. Cell viability and caspase activity wer...

Surgery is not feasible for infiltrating and metastatic bronchopulmonary NET (BP-NET). In those cases, medical therapy is tried with controversial results. Thus, it is important to identify new therapeutic targets to provide adequate medical treatment for patients with BP-NET. Sunitinib, is a multi-targeted receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), mainly described to inhibit VEGFR.The aim of our study is to verify whether insulin receptor (IR), IGF1R, a...

Adrenocortical cancer (ACC) is a rare and aggressive malignancy. Currently the main therapeutic option is surgery, but due to difficult and delayed diagnosis and to the onset of metastases, medical therapy is often tried. ACC treatment is mainly represented by Mitotane alone or in association with chemotherapy, with variable results. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate ACC proliferation could be useful to identify new therapeutic options. Sunitinib, a multitar...

Background: Bronchial carcinoids (BC) are rare neoplasm, still orphan of medical therapy, which arise from neuroendocrine cells. It has been previously demonstrated that the atypical BC human cell line NCI-H720 is sensitive to everolimus (E), an m-TOR inhibitor, in terms of cell viability reduction, with a G0 cell-cycle arrest and a Cyclin D1 protein reduction. On the contrary, the typical human BC cell line NCI-H727 is not sensitive to E, despite the Cyclin D1 reduction. The ...

Background: Gigantism and acromegaly are the main consequences of GH excess, mainly due to a pituitary adenoma. Surgery is the first therapeutic option, but also medical therapy is employed, being mostly represented by somatostatin analogues (SSA), that reduce both tumour mass and GH hypersecretion. However about 10% of patients is resistant to SSA.PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway, activated by growth-factors such as IGF1, is important in regulating many cellular p...