Neuroendocrine neoplasms of the breast: a multicenter retrospective Italian study.

Background: The aim of our retrospective study was to describe the immunophenotypic characteristics of neuroendocrine breast neoplasm (BNEN), a peculiar and rare type of breast carcinoma.

Methods: Pathological data from 51 patients affected by BNEN were retrospectively evaluated, and 44 patients were considered eligible (7 patients with incomplete data were excluded). The patients were followed in six different Italian hospitals between 2009 and 2019.

Could low prolactin levels after radiotherapy predict the onset of hypopituitarism?

Both local and external cranial radiotherapy (RT) can induce neurotoxicity and vascular damage of the hypothalamic-pituitary area, which can promote neuroendocrine alterations. While anterior pituitary insufficiency after RT has been extensively characterized, data on the effect of RT on prolactin (PRL) secretion are limited and heterogeneous, with different patterns of PRL behavior described in the literature. A progressive decline in PRL levels, reflecting a time-dependent, slowly evolving radiation-induced damage to the pituitary lactotroph cells has been reported.

Outcome of Endoscopic Resection of Rectal Neuroendocrine Tumors ≤ 10 mm.

Background And Aim: Guidelines suggest endoscopic resection for rectal neuroendocrine tumors (rNETs) < 10 mm, but the most appropriate resection technique is unclear. In real-life clinical practice, the endoscopic removal of unrecognized rNETs can take place with "simple" techniques and without preliminary staging. The aim of the current study is to report our own experience at a referral center for both neuroendocrine neoplasms and endoscopy.

Bone-active drugs in premenopausal women with breast cancer under hormone-deprivation therapies.

Background: Bone health management in premenopausal women with breast cancer (BC) under hormone-deprivation therapies (HDTs) is often challenging, and the effectiveness of bone-active drugs is still unknown.

Methods: This retrospective multicenter study included 306 premenopausal women with early BC undergoing HDTs. Bone mineral density (BMD) and morphometric vertebral fractures (VFs) were assessed 12 months after HDT initiation and then after at least 24 months.

COVID-19 vaccines and blood glucose control: Friend or foe?

Purpose: To overview the recent literature regarding the relationship between COVID-19 vaccines and glycemic control.

Methods: Data were extracted from text and tables of all available articles published up to September 2023 in PubMed Database describing glucose homeostasis data in subjects exposed to COVID-19 vaccines, focusing on patients with diabetes mellitus (DM).

Results: It is debated if the immune system impairment observed in diabetic patients makes them susceptible to lower efficacy of vaccines, but evidence suggests a possible improvement in immune response in those with good glycemic control.

Co-existing Neuroendocrine Tumors in the Ileum and Pancreas: A Clinico-Pathological Challenge.

Ileal (I) and pancreatic (Pan) neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are among the most common digestive neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs). Coexisting NETs at both sites are rare, and establishing the primary or metastatic nature of the two lesions may be crucial for the appropriate treatment. We reviewed all the clinical reports of patients with INETs or PanNETs, diagnosed and treated in our ENETS Center of Excellence between 2012 and 2022.

DXA-derived lumbar bone strain index corrected for kyphosis is associated with vertebral fractures and trabecular bone score in acromegaly.

Purpose: The bone strain index (BSI) is a marker of bone deformation based on a finite element analysis inferred from dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans, that has been proposed as a predictor of fractures in osteoporosis (i.e., higher BSI indicates a lower bone's resistance to loads with consequent higher risk of fractures).

The Novel SSTR3 Agonist ITF2984 Exerts Antimitotic and Proapoptotic Effects in Human Non-Functioning Pituitary Neuroendocrine Tumor (NF-PitNET) Cells.

Somatostatin receptor ligands (SRLs) with high affinity for somatostatin receptors 2 and 5 (SSTR2 and SSTR5) are poorly efficacious in NF-PitNETs, expressing high levels of SSTR3. ITF2984 is a pan-SSTR ligand with high affinity for SSTR3, able to induce SSTR3 activation and to exert antitumoral activity in the MENX rat model. The aim of this study was to test ITF2984's antiproliferative and proapoptotic effects in NF-PitNET primary cultured cells derived from surgically removed human tumors and to characterize their SSTR expression profile.

Recurrence in acromegaly: two tertiary centers experience and review of the literature.

Background: Recurrence of acromegaly after successful surgery is a rare event, but no clear data are reported in the literature about its recurrence rates. This study aimed to evaluate the recurrence rate in a series of acromegalic patients treated by transsphenoidal surgery (TSS) with a long follow-up.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from 283 acromegalic patients who underwent TSS at two pituitary units in Milan (Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico and IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital).

A pharmacoeconomic analysis from Italian guidelines for the management of prolactinomas.

Background: Prolactinoma, the most common pituitary adenoma, is usually treated with dopamine agonist (DA) therapy like cabergoline. Surgery is second-line therapy, and radiotherapy is used if surgical treatment fails or in relapsing macroprolactinoma.

Objective: This study aimed to provide economic evidence for the management of prolactinoma in Italy, using a cost-of-illness and cost-utility analysis that considered various treatment options, including cabergoline, bromocriptine, temozolomide, radiation therapy, and surgical strategies.

Prediction of adrenal insufficiency after pituitary surgery: a retrospective study using beckman access cortisol assay.

Purpose: Identifying patients requiring glucocorticoid replacement therapy after pituitary surgery is challenging as the tests commonly used for the diagnosis of secondary adrenal insufficiency (SAI) are not recommended in the immediate postoperative period. There are controversial data on the role of postoperative days' morning cortisol, with no specific data for each cortisol assay. The aim of this study is to investigate the reliability of 8.

The direct impact of pegvisomant on osteoblast functions and bone development.

Purpose: Acromegaly is a chronic disease characterized by growth hormone (GH) hypersecretion, usually caused by a pituitary adenoma, resulting in elevated circulating levels of insulin-like growth factor type I (IGF-I). Pegvisomant (PEG), the GH-receptor (GHR) antagonist, is used in treating acromegaly to normalize IGF-I hypersecretion. Exposure to increased levels of GH and IGF-I can cause profound alterations in bone structure that are not completely reverted by treatment of GH hypersecretion.

Prediction of fragility fractures in men with prostate cancer under androgen deprivation therapy: the importance of a multidisciplinary approach using a mini-invasive diagnostic tool.

Bone fragility in men who are treated with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) has a complex pathophysiology that differs from that of primary and post-menopausal osteoporosis. Fracture risk assessment based on bone mineral density (BMD) and Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) score might not be effective in this patient setting, since high frequency of fragility fractures has been reported even in subjects with low FRAX risk and normal BMD. In this paper we want to emphasize the importance in the individual assessment of bone fragility and prediction of fractures by measuring parameters of bone quality, assessing morphometric vertebral fractures and evaluating body composition that in subjects under hormone-deprivation therapies can play a crucial role.

variants in patients with thyrotrophinomas, cyclical Cushing's disease and prolactinomas.

Introduction: Germline loss-of-function variants in , encoding peptidylglycine α-amidating monooxygenase (PAM), were recently discovered to be enriched in conditions of pathological pituitary hypersecretion, specifically: somatotrophinoma, corticotrophinoma, and prolactinoma. PAM is the sole enzyme responsible for C-terminal amidation of peptides, and plays a role in the biosynthesis and regulation of multiple hormones, including proopiomelanocortin (POMC).

Methods: We performed exome sequencing of germline and tumour DNA from 29 individuals with functioning pituitary adenomas (12 prolactinomas, 10 thyrotrophinomas, 7 cyclical Cushing's disease).

Filamin A is involved in human intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma aggressiveness and progression.

Background & Aims: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) is a primary liver tumour, characterized by poor prognosis and lack of effective therapy. The cytoskeleton protein Filamin A (FLNA) is involved in cancer progression and metastasis, including primary liver cancer. FLNA is cleaved by calpain, producing a 90 kDa fragment (FLNA ) that can translocate to the nucleus and inhibit gene transcription.

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor progression and resistance to everolimus: the crucial role of NF-kB and STAT3 interplay.

Purpose: The finding of mTOR overactivation in patients affected by pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (Pa-NETs) led to their treatment with the mTOR inhibitor everolimus. Unfortunately, the efficacy of everolimus is restricted by the occurrence of resistance. The mechanisms leading to Pa-NETs' progression and resistance are not well understood.

Alteration of the immunophenotype and cytokine profiles in patients affected by neuroendocrine neoplasms.

Purpose: Neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) are tumors that arise from cells of the endocrine system and are most common in the gastrointestinal tract, the pancreas, and the lungs. Their incidence is rapidly increasing and the therapeutic options available are limited.

Methods: Since the immune system can interfere with tumor growth and response to therapy, using flow cytometry we investigated the immunophenotype in samples of peripheral blood leukocytes from patients with pancreatic (Pan-NENs) and pulmonary NENs (Lung-NENs).

Gender-related differences in patients with carcinoid syndrome: new insights from an Italian multicenter cohort study.

Background: The incidence of neuroendocrine neoplasm (NEN) and related carcinoid syndrome (CaS) has increased markedly in recent decades, and women appear to be more at risk than men. As per other tumors, gender may be relevant in influencing the clinical and prognostic characteristics of NEN-associated CS. However, specific data on carcinoid syndrome (CaS) are still lacking.

Before Is Better: Innovative Multidisciplinary Preconception Care in Different Clinical Contexts.

Context: Implementation of pre-conception care units is still very limited in Italy. Nowadays, the population's awareness of the reproductive risks that can be reduced or prevented is very low. Purpose and main findings: We presented a new personalized multidisciplinary model of preconception care aimed at identifying and possibly reducing adverse reproductive events.

Preoperative systemic inflammatory markers as prognostic factors in differentiated thyroid cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Inflammation has been associated with tumor development and circulating inflammatory biomarkers have been proposed as possible predictors of recurrence of several solid tumors. However, the role of inflammation markers in differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) is still uncertain.

Objective: This meta-analysis aimed to assess the prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in patients with DTC.