August 10, 2012

Testing Of New Drug For Patients With Neuroendocrine Tumors

Testing Of New Drug For Patients With Neuroendocrine Tumors

  • "Pasireotide is a novel multireceptor-targeted somatostatin analogue that binds to four of the five known somatostatin receptor subtypes... Because of its binding ability, it may offer symptom reduction for patients who have eventually failed to respond to traditional therapy."
  • The multicenter clinical trial, conducted at sites in the United States and Europe, enrolled 89 patients and evaluated 44 for efficacy and 45 for tolerability. Pasireotide "effectively controlled symptoms." Evaluation of tumor response in 23 patients showed 13 with stable disease and 10 with progressive disease. The drug was "effective and well-tolerated" and adverse events, most commonly gastrointestinal, were "mild or moderately severe."
  • A Phase III study evaluating pasireotide versus octreotide is ongoing for patients with advanced NET whose disease-related symptoms have been inadequately controlled.

July 15, 2012

What Extent of Pancreatic Resection Do Patients with MEN-1 Require?

What Extent of Pancreatic Resection Do Patients with MEN-1 Require?
-C. D. Adkisson, et al.
JOP. J Pancreas (Online) 2012 Jul 10; 13(4):402-408.

  • "In patients with MEN-1 and pancreatic endocrine tumors, preoperative workup underestimates extent of disease and total pancreatectomy should be considered for complete tumor removal."

June 20, 2012

Dopamine And Sleep Regulation

Dopamine And Sleep Regulation

  • "These results are interesting as they demonstrate a mechanism in which dopamine, normally increased at times of stimulation, can directly inhibit production and release of a molecule, melatonin, that induces drowsiness and prepares the body for sleep..."

June 11, 2012

Chronic Inflammation and Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors

The Association of Chronic Inflammation and Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors (GEP-NETs)
-Maja Cigrovski Berković, Davorka Herman Mahečić, Vedran Tomašić, Davor Hrabar and Vanja Zjačić-Rotkvić (2012).
The Association of Chronic Inflammation and Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors (GEP-NETs), Neuroendocrine Tumor, Dr. Anthony Lowell (Ed.), ISBN: 978-953-51-0653-1, InTech,
Available from: http://www.intechopen.com/books/neuroendocrine-tumor/the-association-of-chronic-inflammation-and-gastroenteropancreatic-neuroendocrine-tumors-gep-nets-

May 30, 2012

The Genetics of Pituitary Adenomas

The Genetics of Pituitary Adenomas
-Monica Fedele, Giovanna Maria Pierantoni and Alfredo Fusco (2011). The Genetics of Pituitary Adenomas, Contemporary Aspects of Endocrinology, Dr. Evanthia Diamanti-Kandarakis (Ed.), ISBN: 978-953-307-357-6, InTech, Available from: http://www.intechopen.com/books/contemporary-aspects-of-endocrinology/the-genetics-of-pituitary-adenomas