Corticotroph tumor progression after bilateral adrenalectomy/Nelson’s syndrome (CTP-BADX/NS) is a severe complication of bilateral adrenalectomy (BADX). The aim of our study was to investigate the prevalence, presentation and outcome of CTP-BADX/NS in patients with Cushing’s disease (CD) included in the European Registry on Cushing’s Syndrome (ERCUSYN). We examined data on 1045 CD patients and identified 85 (8%) who underwent BADX. Of these, 73 (86%) had follow-up data available. The median duration of follow-up since BADX to the last visit/death was 7 years (IQR 2–9 years). Thirty-three patients (45%) experienced CTP-BADX/NS after 3 years (1.5–6) since BADX. Cumulative progression-free survival was 73% at 3 years, 66% at 5 years and 46% at 10 years. CTP-BADX/NS patients more frequently had a visible tumor at diagnosis of CD than patients without CTP-BADX/NS (P < 0.05). Twenty-seven CTP-BADX/NS patients underwent surgery, 48% radiotherapy and 27% received medical therapy. The median time since diagnosis of CTP-BADX/NS to the last follow-up visit was 2 years (IQR, 1–5). Control of tumor progression was not achieved in 16 of 33 (48%) patients, of whom 8 (50%) died after a mean of 4 years. Maximum adenoma size at diagnosis of CD was associated with further tumor growth in CTP-BADX/NS despite treatment (P = 0.033). Diagnosis of CTP-BADX/NS, older age, greater UFC levels at diagnosis of CD and initial treatment predicted mortality. In conclusion, CTP-BADX/NS was reported in 45% of the ERCUSYN patients who underwent BADX, and control of tumor growth was reached in half of them. Future studies are needed to establish effective strategies for prevention and treatment.
Elena Valassi, Frédéric Castinetti, Amandine Ferriere, Stylianos Tsagarakis, Richard A Feelders, Romana T Netea-Maier, Michael Droste, Christian J Strasburger, Dominique Maiter, Darko Kastelan, Philippe Chanson, Susan M Webb, Frank Demtröder, Valdis Pirags, Olivier Chabre, Holger Franz, Alicia Santos, and Martin Reincke
Thomas Yang Sun, Lan Zhao, Paul Van Hummelen, Brock Martin, Kathleen Hornbacker, HoJoon Lee, Li C Xia, Sukhmani K Padda, Hanlee P Ji, and Pamela Kunz
High-grade (grade 3) neuroendocrine neoplasms (G3 NENs) have poor survival outcomes. From a clinical standpoint, G3 NENs are usually grouped regardless of primary site and treated similarly. Little is known regarding the underlying genomics of these rare tumors, especially when compared across different primary sites. We performed whole transcriptome (n = 46), whole exome (n = 40), and gene copy number (n = 43) sequencing on G3 NEN formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples from diverse organs (in total, 17 were lung, 16 were gastroenteropancreatic, and 13 other). G3 NENs despite arising from diverse primary sites did not have gene expression profiles that were easily segregated by organ of origin. Across all G3 NENs, TP53, APC, RB1, and CDKN2A were significantly mutated. The CDK4/6 cell cycling pathway was mutated in 95% of cases, with upregulation of oncogenes within this pathway. G3 NENs had high tumor mutation burden (mean 7.09 mutations/MB), with 20% having >10 mutations/MB. Two somatic copy number alterations were significantly associated with worse prognosis across tissue types: focal deletion 22q13.31 (HR, 7.82; P = 0.034) and arm amplification 19q (HR, 4.82; P = 0.032). This study is among the most diverse genomic study of high-grade neuroendocrine neoplasms. We uncovered genomic features previously unrecognized for this rapidly fatal and rare cancer type that could have potential prognostic and therapeutic implications.
Marta Araujo-Castro, César Mínguez Ojeda, Rogelio García Centeno, María-Carmen López-García, Cristina Lamas, Felicia Alexandra Hanzu, Mireia Mora, María del Castillo Tous, Pablo Rodríguez de Vera Gómez, Paola Parra Ramírez, Cristina Alvarez-Escola, Concepción Blanco Carrera, Rebeca Barahona San Millán, Mónica Recasens, Nuria Valdés, Paola Gracia Gimeno, Paz de Miguel Novoa, Almudena Vicente, Laura Manjón, Iñigo García Sanz, Theodora Michalopoulou, and María Calatayud
The objective of our study was to determine the prevalence of glycemic disorders (diabetes mellitus and prediabetes) in patients with pheochromocytomas and sympathetic paragangliomas (PPGLs) and identify risk factors for their development and the likelihood of their resolution after surgery. A multicentric retrospective study of patients with PPGLs submitted to surgery between 2000 and 2021 in 17 Spanish hospitals was performed. Diabetes-specific data were collected at diagnosis, in the immediate- and long-term postsurgical follow-up. A total of 229 patients with PPGLs were included (218 with pheochromocytomas and 11 with sympathetic paragangliomas). Before surgery, glycemic disorders were diagnosed in 35.4% of the patients (n = 81): 54 with diabetes and 27 with prediabetes. The variables independently associated with a higher risk of glycemic disorders were sporadic PPGL (odds ratio (OR) = 3.26 (1.14–9.36)) and hypertension (OR = 3.14 (1.09–9.01)). A significant decrease in fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c levels was observed after surgery, in the short-term and long-term follow-up (P < 0.001). After a median follow-up of 48.5 months (range 3.3–168.9), after surgery, 52% of diabetic and 68% of prediabetic patients experienced a complete resolution. Lower body mass index (BMI) (P = 0.001), lower glucose levels (P = 0.047) and shorter duration of diabetes prior to surgery (P = 0.021) were associated with a higher probability of diabetes resolution. In conclusion, glycemic disorders in patients with PPGLs are present in more than a third of them at diagnosis. Sporadic PPGLs and hypertension are risk factors for their development. More than 50% of cases experience a complete resolution of the glycemic disorder after resection of the PPGLs.
Tanner Freeman, Charit Taneja, N Paul Ohori, Abigail I Wald, John Skaugen, Linwah Yip, Seungwon Kim, Robert L Ferris, Marina N Nikiforova, Somak Roy, and Yuri E Nikiforov
Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common type of cancer found to metastasize to the thyroid gland. These tumors may represent a diagnostic challenge in cytology. However, most RCC tumors carry VHL alterations, which are rare in primary thyroid tumors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of molecular testing in detecting metastatic RCC in thyroid fine-needle aspiration (FNA) samples. From November 2017 until March 2022, thyroid FNA samples with ThyroSeq v3 results showing both VHL alterations and low/absent expression of thyroid cell markers were analyzed. Eighteen samples from 15 patients met the inclusion criteria. On molecular analysis, deleterious VHL mutations were found in nine (50%) nodules, VHL copy number alteration (CNA) in two (11%), and both mutations and CNA in seven (39%). None of the cases showed mutations commonly found in thyroid tumors. The mean age of these patients was 68 (range, 49–89) years with a male to female ratio of 2:1. Eight (53%) patients had multiple thyroid nodules on ultrasound. On cytology, 14 (78%) nodules were diagnosed as Bethesda III, 2 (11%) as Bethesda IV, and 2 (11%) as Bethesda V. At the time of cytology review, the history of RCC, sometimes remote, was available for ten patients. Of the 14 patients with medical history or surgical follow-up available, all had history of RCC or renal mass or revealed metastatic RCC on thyroidectomy. This study demonstrates that molecular testing can reliably identify metastatic RCC in thyroid nodules with indeterminate cytology, which could improve patient management.
Emily J Gallagher, Giampaolo Greco, Sylvia Lin, Radhi Yagnik, Sheldon M Feldman, Elisa Port, Neil B Friedman, Susan K Boolbol, Brigid Killelea, Melissa Pilewskie, Lydia Choi, Derek LeRoith, and Nina A Bickell
The survival for breast cancer (BC) is improving but remains lower in Black women than White women. A number of factors potentially drive the racial differences in BC outcomes. The aim of our study was to determine if insulin resistance (defined as homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR)), mediated part of the relationship between race and BC prognosis (defined by the improved Nottingham prognostic index (iNPI)). We performed a cross-sectional study, recruiting self-identified Black and White women with newly diagnosed primary invasive BC from 10 US hospitals between March 2013 and February 2020. Survey, anthropometric, laboratory, and tumor pathology data were gathered, and we compared the results between Black and White women. We calculated HOMA-IR as well as iNPI scores and examined the associations between HOMA-IR and iNPI. After exclusions, the final cohort was 1206: 911 (76%) White and 295 (24%) Black women. Metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance were more common in Black than White women. Black women had less lobular BC, three times more triple-negative BC, and BCs with higher stage and iNPI scores than White women (P < 0.001 for all comparisons). Fewer Black women had BC genetic testing performed. HOMA-IR mediated part of the association between race and iNPI, particularly in BCs that carried a good prognosis and were hormone receptor (HR)-positive. Higher HOMA-IR scores were associated with progesterone receptor-negative BC in White women but not Black women. Overall, our results suggest that HOMA-IR contributes to the racial disparities in BC outcomes, particularly for women with HR-positive BCs.
Konsta Kukkonen, Bryn Autio-Kimura, Hanna Rauhala, Juha Kesseli, Matti Nykter, Leena Latonen, and Tapio Visakorpi
Prostate cancer research suffers from the lack of suitable models to study the role of normal cells in prostate carcinogenesis. To address this challenge, we developed a cell line model mimicking luminal prostate epithelial cells by modifying the immortalized prostate epithelial cell line RWPE-1 to constitutively express the androgen receptor (AR). RWPE-1-AR cells express known AR target genes, and exhibit coexpression of luminal and basal markers characteristic of transient amplifying cells, and an RNA signature resembling prostate luminal progenitor cells. Under unstimulated conditions, constitutive AR expression does not have a biologically significant effect on the proliferation of RWPE-1 cells, but when stimulated by androgens, growth is retarded. The transcriptional response of RWPE-1-AR cells to androgen stimulation involves suppression of the growth-related KRAS pathway and is thus markedly different from that of the prostate cancer cell line LNCaP and its derivative AR-overexpressing LNCaP-ARhi cells, in which growth- and cancer-related pathways are upregulated. Hence, the nonmalignant AR-positive RWPE-1-AR cell line model could be used to study the transformation of the prostate epithelium.
Yu Zhang, Li Ma, Shuguang Dong, Qiaoyan Ding, Shuman Wang, Qi Wu, Ping Ni, Hong Zhang, Yonggang Chen, Jinhu Wu, and Xiong Wang
Prolactinomas have harmful effects on human health. Bromocriptine is the only commercially available drug in China, but about 25% of prolactinoma patients do not respond to it in clinic, its pathogenesis remains unknown. Thus, its pathogenesis needs to be determined to develop new therapeutic methods for prolactinomas. The expression of ERβ, TLR4, and prolactin (PRL) in the pituitary gland of C57BL/6 mice and human prolactinoma specimen was examined by immunofluorescence or immunohistochemistry. The role of TLR4 in prolactinoma was determined using estradiol-induced models of C57BL/6 wild-type and TLR4−/− mice. MMQ cells were treated with estradiol, fulvestrant, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or transfected with TLR4 siRNA to study the expression of ERβ, TLR4, and PRL in these cells. Furthermore, the interaction between ERβ and TLR4 was investigated by immunoprecipitation analysis. The expression of PRL and TLR4 was co-located and increased in the pituitary gland of mice and human prolactinoma specimen compared to that in the control specimen. Meanwhile, TLR4 knockout or treatment with the TLR4 inhibitor TAK242 not only significantly inhibited tumor overgrowth but also decreased the expression of PRL in estradiol-treated mice through p38 MAPK pathway regulation. However, MMQ treated with estradiol and LPS enhanced PRL expression than treated with estradiol or LPS alone. Finally, ERβ or TLR4 inhibition prevented the estradiol-induced PRL increase by regulating the TLR4/p38 MAPK pathway in vitro. Estradiol promoted prolactinoma development by activating the TLR4/p38 MAPK pathway through ERβ, and TLR4 is a potential therapeutic target for prolactinoma treatment.
Tiago Bordeira Gaspar, José Manuel Lopes, Paula Soares, and João Vinagre
Pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (PanNENs) are rare and clinically challenging entities. At the molecular level, PanNENs’ genetic profile is well characterized, but there is limited knowledge regarding the contribution of the newly identified genes to tumor initiation and progression. Genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs) are the most versatile tool for studying the plethora of genetic variations influencing PanNENs’ etiopathogenesis and behavior over time. In this review, we present the state of the art of the most relevant PanNEN GEMMs available and correlate their findings with the human neoplasms’ counterparts. We discuss the historic GEMMs as the most used and with higher translational utility models. GEMMs with Men1 and glucagon receptor gene germline alterations stand out as the most faithful models in recapitulating human disease; RIP-Tag models are unique models of early-onset, highly vascularized, invasive carcinomas. We also include a section of the most recent GEMMs that evaluate pathways related to cell cycle and apoptosis, Pi3k/Akt/mTOR, and Atrx/Daxx. For the latter, their tumorigenic effect is heterogeneous. In particular, for Atrx/Daxx, we will require more in-depth studies to evaluate their contribution; even though they are prevalent genetic events in PanNENs, they have low/inexistent tumorigenic capacity per se in GEMMs. Researchers planning to use GEMMs can find a road map of the main clinical features in this review, presented as a guide that summarizes the chief milestones achieved. We identify pitfalls to overcome, concerning the novel designs and standardization of results, so that future models can replicate human disease more closely.
Ana Carolina Bueno, Rui M P da Silva, Mônica F Stecchini, Junier Marrero-Gutiérrez, Danillo C de Almeida e Silva, Izilda Cardinalli, Carlos Alberto Scrideli, Thais Junqueira, Carlos A F Molina, Fernando Silva Ramalho, Silvio Tucci Jr, Fernanda Borchers Coeli-Lacchini, Ayrton Custodio Moreira, Leandra N Z Ramalho, Silvia Brandalise, José Andres Yunes, Margaret de Castro, Ricardo Zorzetto Nicoliello Vêncio, and Sonir R R Antonini
Children diagnosed with pediatric adrenocortical tumors (pACT) have variable outcomes, and, to date, the disease lacks robust prognostic biomarkers. The prognostic potential of tumor methylation has been demonstrated in several cancers. We aimed to evaluate the pACT methylation profile and its association with disease presentation and survival. In this cross-sectional study, we accessed the DNA methylation (MethylationEPIC Array, Illumina) of 57 primary pACT from Southeastern Brazil and the respective patients’ clinicopathological features. We also applied our analysis in an independent 48 pACT methylation dataset. Unsupervised learning whole-methylome analysis showed two groups with distinct methylation signatures: pACT-1 and pACT-2. Compared to pACT-2, pACT-1 tumors were enriched with higher methylation in CpG islands, mainly in gene promoter regions. The topmost hypermethylated gene in these samples was shown to be underexpressed. Patients in the pACT-1 group were older at diagnosis and were more likely to have carcinomas and nonlocalized/advanced and recurrent/metastatic disease. Univariate and bivariate regressions showed that pACT-1 methylation signature confers superior hazard ratio of disease progression and death than known prognostic features. The methylation groups had similar frequencies of germline mutations in the TP53 gene, including the regionally frequent p.R337H. Our analysis replication validated our findings and reproduced those recently described in pACT. We demonstrated the existence of different tumor methylation signatures associated with pACT presentation and clinical evolution, even in the context of germline TP53 mutations. Our data support tumor methylation profiling as a robust and independent prognostic biomarker for pACT and suggest a list of candidate genes for further validation.
N Tufton, R J Hearnden, D M Berney, W M Drake, L Parvanta, J P Chapple, and S A Akker
Emerging evidence suggests the composition of the tumour microenvironment (TME) correlates with clinical outcome and that each tumour type has a unique TME including a variable population of inflammatory cells. We performed immunohistochemistry on 65 phaeochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PPGL) tumour samples with 20 normal adrenal medulla samples for comparison. The immune cells assessed were macrophages, lymphocytes and neutrophils, and we compared the proportion of infiltration of these immune cells with clinical and histopathological factors. There was a higher proportion of immune cells in tumour tissue compared to non-neoplastic adrenal medulla tissue, with a predominance of macrophages. There was a higher proportion of M2:M1 macrophages and T-helper lymphocytes in aggressive tumours compared to indolent ones. For SDHB-associated tumours, there was a higher proportion of M2 macrophage infiltration, with higher M2:M1 in aggressive SDHB PPGLs compared to indolent tumours. These data demonstrate that immune cells do infiltrate the TME of PPGLs, confirming that PPGLs are immunologically active tumours. Differences in the TME of PPGLs were observed between aggressive and indolent tumours. These differences could potentially be exploited as an aid in predicting tumour behaviour.
