Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: In patients with neuroendocrine tumours (NETs), the urinary concentration of the serotonin metabolite 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid (5-HIAA) is used to monitor disease progression or response to treatment. The sensitivity and specificity in the presence of the carcinoid syndrome are approximately 70 and 90%, respectively. However, there are problems with the accurate meaurement of a 24-h collection, and this is often inconvenient for patients. In addition, serotoni...

Introduction: The NHS Commissioning Board recommends the introduction of multidisciplinary Tier 3 Specialist Weight Management Services (SWMS) for adults with obesity. Unfortunately, these services are yet to be commissioned in many areas and this largely reflects financial barriers to their development. We have noted, through observation and feedback, that our Tier 3 service is highly valued by patients. Supportive evidence in the literature - although encouraging - is limite...

Introduction: 46,XX disorder of sexual development (DSD) is a rare cause of sex reversal. Only a few hundred cases have been described. The clinical spectrum can be divided into 3 groups of males according to genital appearance: normal male, atypical variants such as hypospadias or cryptorchidism, and those with both male and female genitalia.Subcategories of 46,XX DSD include ovotesticular DSD, which is characterised by the presence of both testicular a...

The stromal compartment changes with cancer, with an emergence in activated fibroblasts. These stromal changes, which occur with cancer initiation and throughout progression, are known to influence the hallmarks of cancer and are becoming increasingly studied for prognostic and therapeutic purposes. Androgen receptor (AR) signalling in stromal cells is important in prostate cancer and these cancer stromal communications, yet the mechanisms underpinning stromal AR contribution ...

Prostate cancer (PCa) is driven by the androgen receptor (AR) signalling axis and begins with prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN), progressing to invasive adenocarcinoma and eventually metastatic disease. It is treated with androgen deprivation therapies, to which, in late-stage disease, tumours often become resistant and proliferation occurs in a low androgen environment. Mutation of the PTEN tumour suppressor gene is found in approximately 30% of primary human prostate...

In Graves’ disease (GD) thyrotropin receptor (TSHR) stimulating autoantibodies cause hyperthyroidism. Many GD patients develop Graves’ orbitopathy (GO) characterized by orbital tissue remodelling including adipogenesis. Whilst progress has been made in understanding the processes causing expansion of orbital tissues, little is known about loss of tolerance to the TSHR target autoantigen. Mechanisms for triggering autoimmunity by microorganisms include molecular mimic...

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors have demonstrated significant advances in the treatment of several cancers including metastatic melanoma. However, they are frequently associated with immune-related adverse events which often require treatment with prolonged courses of glucocorticoids. Long-term glucocorticoid use is associated with several side effects including hyperglycaemia.Aims: 1) To determine the prevalence of glucocorticoid use in patien...

Background: Down Syndrome (DS) is the most common chromosomal abnormality. Obesity and type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) are known to be more prevalent in patients with DS than the general population. Available data on the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in DS is scant.Objectives: This study aims to investigate the prevalence of obesity and diabetes mellitus (DM) in adults with DS seen in Imperial College London Diabetes Centre (ICLDC) in the...

Introduction: Limited data is available on the natural history of thyroid disorders in the Middle East. We aim to report the rate of progression of subclinical hypothyroidism to overt hypothyroidism specifically for the UAE population.Methods: Retrospective analysis was performed on all patients attending Imperial College London Diabetes Centres in the UAE over ten years from 2007 to 2017, with a diagnosis of spontaneous subclinical hypothyroidism (TSH &...

Background: The incidence of thyroid cancer is increasing globally mainly due to increased detection of papillary microcarcinoma. The British Thyroid Association (BTA) guideline (2014) recommends the use of U1-U5 classification on ultrasound to assess thyroid cancer risk. U3 nodules have low, but indeterminate risk and therefore need FNAC. This retrospective review analyses the outcome of U3 nodules in an outer London hospital.Methods: Thyroid ultrasound...