Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Accurate cancer risk assessment approaches could increase rates of early CRC diagnosis, improve health outcomes for patients and reduce pressure on diagnostic services. The faecal immunochemical test (FIT) for blood in stool is widely used in primary care to identify symptomatic patients with likely CRC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmong the available neuroendocrine neoplasm (NEN)-specific HR-QoL scales, only the EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-G.I.NET21 questionnaires have been validated in several languages.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSingle-cell profiling of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) as part of a minimally invasive liquid biopsy presents an opportunity to characterize and monitor tumor heterogeneity and evolution in individual patients. In this study, we aimed to compare single-cell copy number variation (CNV) data with tissue and define the degree of intra- and inter-patient genomic heterogeneity. We performed next-generation sequencing (NGS) whole-genome CNV analysis of 125 single CTCs derived from seven patients with neuroendocrine neoplasms (NEN) alongside matched white blood cells (WBC), formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE), and fresh frozen (FF) samples.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: There is a pressing need to develop clinical management pathways for grade 3 (G3) gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (GEP NEN).
Methods: We performed a retrospective study on patients with metastatic G3 GEP NEN. The relationship between baseline characteristics and progression-free survival and overall survival was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method.
Neuroendocrinology
January 2022
Background: The number of therapeutic options for patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (PNEN) has increased, but the optimal therapeutic algorithm has not been defined due to lack of randomised trials comparing different modalities.
Methods: We performed a retrospective study in patients with metastatic PNEN treated with ≥1 line of systemic therapy. The relationship between baseline characteristics, treatment type, and time to treatment failure (TTF), time to progression (TTP), and overall survival (OS) was analysed using the Kaplan-Meier method.
Before squamous cell lung cancer develops, precancerous lesions can be found in the airways. From longitudinal monitoring, we know that only half of such lesions become cancer, whereas a third spontaneously regress. Although recent studies have described the presence of an active immune response in high-grade lesions, the mechanisms underpinning clinical regression of precancerous lesions remain unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) arise from cells of neuronal and endocrine differentiation. While they are a rare entity, an increasing proportion of patients with NEN present with metastatic disease and no evident primary site using routine imaging or histopathology. NENs of unknown primary site have a poorer prognosis, often due to the challenge of selecting appropriate evidence-based management.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) are a relatively rare group of heterogeneous tumours originating from neuroendocrine cells found throughout the body. Pancreatic NENs (PanNENs) are the second most common pancreatic malignancy accounting for 1-3% of all neoplasms developing in the pancreas. Despite having a low background mutation rate, driver mutations in MEN1, DAXX/ATRX and mTOR pathway genes (PTEN, TSC1/2) are implicated in disease development and progression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe molecular alterations that occur in cells before cancer is manifest are largely uncharted. Lung carcinoma in situ (CIS) lesions are the pre-invasive precursor to squamous cell carcinoma. Although microscopically identical, their future is in equipoise, with half progressing to invasive cancer and half regressing or remaining static.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Bone metastases are associated with a worse outcome in patients with neuroendocrine tumours (NETs). Tumour overexpression of C-X-C chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) appears predictive of skeletal involvement. We investigated the role of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) and CXCR4 expression on CTCs as potential predictors of skeleton invasion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuroendocrine tumors are a heterogeneous group of slow-growing neoplasms arising mainly from the enterochromaffin cells of the digestive and respiratory tract. Although they are relatively rare, their incidence is rising. It has long been observed that they often are associated with the development of fibrosis, both local and distant.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Bronchial neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are rare tumors representing approximately 20%-30% of all neuroendocrine tumors and 2%-3% of all adult lung cancers. Here, they present a large case series of well-differentiated bronchial NETs with the aim of investigating the behavior of these tumors and long-term outcomes.
Methods: A retrospective review was performed of 105 patients with bronchial NETs managed in a tertiary referral center in the period between January 1998 and January 2012.
Background: Neuroendocrine tumours (NET) overexpress somatostatin receptors (SSTR) that can be targeted for therapy. Somatostatin receptor expression is routinely measured by molecular imaging but the resolution is insufficient to define heterogeneity. We hypothesised that SSTR expression could be measured on circulating tumour cells (CTCs) and used to investigate heterogeneity of expression and track changes during therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChemotherapy (CT) is widely used for neuroendocrine tumours (NETs), but there are no validated biomarkers to predict response. The Ki-67 proliferation index has been proposed as a means of selecting patients for CT, but robust data are lacking. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between response to chemotherapy and Ki-67 in NET.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Chromogranin A (CgA) is the best established neuroendocrine biomarker. This study was aimed at investigating the prognostic value of CgA as a predictor of radiological disease progression in neuroendocrine tumour (NET) patients.
Methods: Patients with metastatic NETs and evidence of radiological progression (RP) according to RECIST 1.
Importance: The utility of buccal cells as an epithelial source tissue for epigenome-wide association studies (EWASs) remains to be demonstrated. Given the direct exposure of buccal cells to potent carcinogens such as smoke, epigenetic changes in these cells may provide insights into the development of smoke-related cancers.
Objective: To perform an EWAS in buccal and blood cells to assess the relative effect of smoking on the DNA methylation (DNAme) patterns in these cell types and to test whether these DNAme changes are also seen in epithelial cancer.
Purpose: Small intestinal neuroendocrine tumors (SINET) are the commonest malignancy of the small intestine; however, underlying pathogenic mechanisms remain poorly characterized. Whole-genome and -exome sequencing has demonstrated that SINETs are mutationally quiet, with the most frequent known mutation in the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1B gene (CDKN1B) occurring in only ∼8% of tumors, suggesting that alternative mechanisms may drive tumorigenesis. The aim of this study is to perform genome-wide molecular profiling of SINETs in order to identify pathogenic drivers based on molecular profiling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The value of surgical resection in the management of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNET) with liver metastases (LM) is still debated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of surgery of PNET with LM.
Methods: Patients with PNET with synchronous LM between 2000 and 2011 from 4 high-volume institutions were included.
Background: Appendiceal Goblet cell tumors (GCTs) are clinically more aggressive, and have a worse outcome than midgut neuroendocrine tumors (mNETs). Guidelines for management of GCTs are limited.
Methods: A retrospective case-study analysis was performed in patients with a diagnosis of GCT, confirmed on histological review.
Aims: Sorafenib is the only standard therapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, but has a low response rate. Leucovorin and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) has a superior response rate versus doxorubicin among Asian sorafenib-naive patients. We aimed to retrospectively review the outcome of 20 consecutive patients treated with FOLFOX at a single European center.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF