Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Benign adrenal tumours (AT) can be non-functioning (NFAT) or associated with cortisol excess, as indicated by failure to suppress serum morning cortisol to <50 nmol/l in the 1mg-dexamethasone suppression test (1 mg-DST). The latter group divides into patients with clinically overt signs of cortisol excess (adrenal Cushing’s syndrome, CUSH) and patients lacking CUSH signs (mild autonomous cortisol excess, MACE). Smaller series and a recent meta-analysis rep...

Objective: Urine steroid metabolomics, combining mass spectrometry-based steroid profiling and machine learning, has been described as a novel diagnostic tool for detection of adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC). This proof-of-concept study evaluated the performance of urine steroid metabolomics as a tool for post-operative recurrence detection after microscopically complete (R0) resection of ACC.Methods: 135 ACC patients from 14 clinical centres provided pos...

Objective: Urine steroid metabolomics, combining mass spectrometry-based steroid profiling and machine learning, has been described as a novel diagnostic tool for detection of adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC). This proof-of-concept study evaluated the performance of urine steroid metabolomics as a tool for post-operative recurrence detection after microscopically complete (R0) resection of ACC.Methods: 135 patients from 14 clinical centers provided post-op...

Background: Adrenocortical cancer (ACC) is an aggressive tumour with heterogeneous prognosis. Recently integrated genomics reported distinct genomic alterations: transcriptome “C1A” (high expression of proliferation/cell cycle-related genes) vs “C1B”, “CIMP” (CpG islands hypermethylation) vs “non-CIMP”, chromosome alterations “Noisy” (numerous and anarchic alterations) vs “Chromosomal” (extended patterns of loss of he...

Recent studies have reported a high prevalence of USP8 mutations in corticotroph adenomas causing Cushing’s disease. Nelson’s syndrome is a potentially life-threatening complication of bilateral adrenalectomy in patients with refractory Cushing’s disease that is caused by the development of an ACTH-secreting tumor in the pituitary gland. Whether USP8 alterations are also present in Nelson’s tumors has not been studied in detail so far....

Genetic alterations affecting the PKA/cAMP pathway are commonly found in cortisol-producing adrenocortical adenomas (ACAs), while activating mutations in the gene coding for β-catenin (CTNNB1) have been reported in both adenomas and carcinomas. However, the molecular pathogenesis of most ACAs is still unclear. Aim of the study was a comprehensive genetic characterization of sporadic ACAs and the identification of novel molecular markers involved in adrenal tumori...

Recent pan-genomic analyses of tumor DNA identified specific patterns of DNA methylation –e.g. CpG islands hypermethylation in the promoter regions of genes- as pejorative prognostic markers in adrenocortical cancer (ACC). Integrated genomics clearly shows that ACC with such an hypermethylation belongs to specific subgroups of ACC with increased driver genes alterations and a poor survival.Aim: To confirm the prognostic value of this methylation pat...

Context: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is an aggressive malignancy with high recurrence rates. Regular post-operative follow-up imaging is essential, but associated with high radiation exposure and frequent diagnostic ambiguity. Urine steroid metabolomics has been described as a novel diagnostic tool for the detection of adrenocortical malignancy. Here we present the first clinical study assessing the performance of this innovative approach in the follow-up of patients with c...

We have recently reported that somatic mutations in the ubiquitin-specific protease 8 (USP8) are present in corticotropinomas of patients with Cushing’s disease and that these mutations reduced the interaction with 14-3-3. Mutant USP8 exhibited higher deubiquitination activity and potentiated EGFR-induced POMC expression (Reincke et al., Nat Genet 2014). To further study the prevalence of these mutations, we have analyzed 134 ACTH-producing corticotropin...

Introduction: ACTH-independent macronodular adrenal hyperplasia (AIMAH) is often an incidental finding, but may be diagnosed in patients with Cushing’s syndrome. We have recently identified germline mutations in the armadillo repeat containing 5 gene (ARMC5) in AIMAH patients, associated with somatic second hits specific of each AIMAH nodule ( Assié et al, NEJM, 2013). The aim is to characterize the prevalence of ARMC5 mutations in AIMAH patients and the gen...