Publications by authors named "Rachel van Leeuwaarde"

Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) is a hereditary tumor syndrome characterized by endocrine tumors, typically from parathyroid, pancreatic, or anterior pituitary origin. In addition, benign cutaneous soft tissue tumors are prevalent in MEN1 patients. Although sarcomas have been reported in MEN1 patients it is unclear if these tumors should be considered as part of the MEN1 syndrome.

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Tumor markers often remain elevated after intended curative resection of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). The aim of this study was to determine the expression of αβ, a promising theranostics target, in MTC and its metastases. Aβ expression was analyzed in 104 patients using a tissue microarray and correlated with clinicopathological variables and survival.

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Purpose: Liver metastases presenting as small hyperintense foci on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) pose a therapeutic challenge. Ablation is generally not possible since these lesions are often occult on ultrasound and CT. The purpose of this prospective study was to assess if small liver metastases (≤10 mm) detected on DWI can be successfully localized and ablated with the Hepatic Arteriography and C-Arm CT-Guided Ablation technique (HepACAGA).

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Background: Central nervous system hemangioblastomas are the most prevalent manifestation of von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease and remain the main cause of mortality. Surgical resection is the primary treatment strategy, but is not always possible, and should be used as restrictively as possible. There is an unmet need for less invasive treatment strategies, such as targeted therapy.

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Purpose Of Review: To provide insights into the role of peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) in patients with advanced neuroendocrine tumors (NET) and an overview of possible strategies to combine PRRT with locoregional and systemic anticancer treatments.

Recent Findings: Research on combining PRRT with other treatments encompasses a wide variety or treatments, both local (transarterial radioembolization) and systemic therapies, chemotherapy (i.e.

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Neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) comprise well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) and poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs). Treatment options for patients with NENs are limited, in part due to lack of accurate models. We establish patient-derived tumor organoids (PDTOs) from pulmonary NETs and derive PDTOs from an understudied subtype of NEC, large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC), arising from multiple body sites.

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Background: Thyroid cancer (TC) patients are understudied but appear to be at risk for poor physical and psychosocial outcomes. Knowledge of the course and determinants of these deteriorated outcomes is lacking. Furthermore, little is known about mediating biological mechanisms.

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Article Synopsis
  • Targeted screening programs help people at higher risk of cancer, like those with multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN), by checking for tumors from an early age.
  • Patients with MEN often feel scared about getting sick and how it might affect their families, but not much is known about how regular screenings impact their lives.
  • The study found that patients have mixed feelings about screenings; while they provide some control over their health, they can also create uncertainty and are heavily influenced by their family experiences.
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Purpose: Patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) are predisposed to develop duodenopancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (dpNETs), and metastatic dpNET is the primary cause of disease-related mortality. Presently, there is a paucity of prognostic factors that can reliably identify patients with MEN1-related dpNETS who are at high risk of distant metastasis. In the current study, we aimed to establish novel circulating molecular protein signatures associated with disease progression.

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Article Synopsis
  • Adrenal cortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare type of cancer with varying outcomes, and the Weiss score helps in diagnosing and predicting its prognosis through specific histologic criteria.
  • A study analyzed 79 cases of ACC to determine the impact of Weiss parameters on patient survival, utilizing methods like principal component analysis and multivariate regression.
  • Results indicated that necrosis is the most significant predictor of overall and disease-free survival among Weiss criteria, leading to shorter survival and recurrence times.
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Introduction: The rarity of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) and their heterogeneous presentation complicate the identification of risk factors for their development and natural course. Several tumor-specific prognostic factors have been identified, but less attention has been given to lifestyle factors as risk and prognostic factors. This review aimed to identify studies on smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, diet, body mass index (BMI), and diabetes and their association with the development and course of gastroenteropancreatic (GEP-) NETs.

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Background: Breast cancer (BC) and differentiated thyroid cancer (TC) are two common cancer types with the highest incidence in women. BC and TC can develop synchronous or metachronous and the occurrence of both is higher than expected by chance. This study aimed to examine the association between BC and TC in the Netherlands.

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Background: Clinical pathways are care plans established to describe essential steps in the care of patients with a specific clinical problem. They translate (inter)national guidelines into local applicable protocols and clinical practice. The purpose of this article is to establish a multidisciplinary integrated care pathway for specialists and allied health care professionals in caring for individuals with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease.

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Objective: To evaluate the usefulness of [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emissive tomography (PET)/CT in patients with low detectable thyroglobulin levels suspicious for persistent or recurrent differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC).

Methods: A retrospective case series study evaluating FDG PET/CT in patients with detectable thyroglobulin (Tg) levels (≥0.20 and <10.

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We aimed to develop a disease-specific adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) health-related quality of life (HRQoL) questionnaire (ACC-QOL) and assess HRQoL in a population-based cohort of patients with ACC. Development was in line with European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) guidelines, though not an EORTC product. In phase I and II, we identified 90 potential HRQoL issues using literature and focus groups, which were reduced to 39 by healthcare professionals.

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Among 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.

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Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by the development of multi-organ neoplasms. Among the manifestations of VHL are pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (panNENs). In order to detect these lesions in a timely manner, patients are enrolled in a surveillance program, in accordance with the several existing VHL guidelines.

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Purpose: A prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) thyroid incidentaloma (PTI) is an unexpected, PSMA-avid thyroid lesion, newly detected during the investigation of an unrelated condition using PSMA PET/CT. The aim of this study is to examine the incidence and clinical significance of PTI and the associated management strategies since the implementation of the PSMA PET/CT scan.

Methods: This study involves a retrospective cohort study of 61 PTI cases depicted on PSMA PET/CT scans performed between January 2016 and July 2021, almost exclusively for (re)staging prostate cancer.

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Background: Early [Ga]Ga-DOTA-TOC PET/CT imaging after peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) in neuroendocrine neoplasm patients is often used as a prognosticator for survival, but lacks validity. This study investigates the prognostic value of changes in PET parameters after PRRT.

Methods: Baseline and follow-up [Ga]Ga-DOTA-TOC PET/CT scans of all patients treated with PRRT were delineated automatically.

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Von Hippel-Lindau disease (VHL) is a multineoplasm inherited disease manifesting with hemangioblastoma of the central nervous system and retina, adrenal pheochromocytoma, renal cell carcinoma, pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors and cysts, and neoplasms/cysts of the ear, broad ligament, and testicles. During 2018-2020, the VHL Alliance gathered several committees of experts in the various clinical manifestations of VHL to review the literature, gather the available evidence on VHL, and develop recommendations for patient management. The current report details the results of the discussion of a group of experts in the pancreatic manifestations of VHL along with their proposed recommendations for the clinical surveillance and management of patients with VHL.

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Introduction: Until now, well-differentiated bronchopulmonary neuroendocrine tumors (bpNET) occurring either sporadically (sp-bpNET) or in the context of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) and diffuse idiopathic pulmonary neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia (DIPNECH) are regarded as similar entities. However, in contrast to sp-bpNET: MEN1-related and DIPNECH-related bpNET rarely metastasize or lead to bpNET-related death. We aimed to describe and compare the course of the disease of sp-bpNET, DIPNECH- and MEN1-related bpNET.

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