Multiple hormone secretion may indicate worse prognosis in patients with ectopic Cushing's syndrome

PURPOSE

Ectopic Cushing's syndrome (ECS) caused by an ACTH secreting neuroendocrine neoplasm (NEN) is a rare and challenging condition. We aimed to detect predictive and prognostic parameters for ECS patients identified from a retrospective, comprehensive cohort of NENs treated at a tertiary referral center.

METHODS

Medical records of 886 patients with NENs were reviewed. We identified 51 patients with ECS (33 females/18 men); mean age 52 ± 15 years (SD). Clinical parameters including symptoms, biochemical markers, and survival were extracted and further analyzed.

RESULTS

The primary tumor was located in the thorax (n = 28) or pancreas (n = 15) or was of unknown primary origin (n = 8). In 30 patients, tumor and ECS were diagnosed simultaneously. In 12 patients, the NEN diagnosis preceded ECS development, with a median time of 43.5 months (range: 9-96), and 10 of these showed radiological tumor progression at ECS diagnosis. Twenty-one patients had multiple hormone secretion, which correlated with shorter overall survival (OS), p = 0.012 (HR 2.4 (95% CI 1.2-4.9)), as did high morning cortisol, p = 0.037 (HR 2.3 (1.0-5.2)), higher tumor grade, p = 0.044 (HR 2.3 (1.0-5.1)), and diabetes, p = 0.050 (HR 2.4 (1.0-6.0)).

CONCLUSIONS

Multiple hormone secretion, high morning cortisol, higher tumor grade, and diabetes were correlated with shorter OS. Development of ECS in patients with a non-functioning NEN may indicate tumor progression. Multiple hormone secretion should be considered as a bad prognostic sign in ECS patients and should lead to intensified clinical management.

Patient And Nurse Experience Of Using Somatostatin Analogues To Treat Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors: Results Of The Somatostatin Treatment Experience Trial (STREET)

PURPOSE

Evaluate patients' and nurses' experiences, including injection problem frequency, with the somatostatin analogues (SSAs) lanreotide autogel^® (Somatuline^® autogel^®, deep subcutaneous) and octreotide long-acting release (LAR) (Sandostatin^® LAR^®, intramuscular) when treating gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs).

METHODS

An observational, cross-sectional study across 2 NET centers in Sweden. Questionnaires based on participants' most recent injection experience were sent to patients with GEP-NETs treated with octreotide or lanreotide, and to nurses administering these treatments. Nurses were identified via patients completing their questionnaires. Resource use was sourced from Swedish prescription registry records. The planned sample size was 200, based on an estimated proportion of 0.50 and ±7% precision.

RESULTS

119/156 patients (n=53, lanreotide; n=66, octreotide) and 43/53 nurses (n=22, lanreotide; n=21, octreotide) completed questionnaires. Despite smaller recruitment than planned, the endpoint precision was ±9% with 119 participants, and still considered reasonable. More octreotide-treated patients reported problems (18% vs none; P=0.001) and experienced moderate-to-high anxiety pre-injection (11% vs 2%). Patients had similar physical HRQoL scores overall (Short Form-12 mean composite scores: physical: 39.4 vs 37.6; mental: 50.7 vs 49.6). The mean number of lanreotide and octreotide doses dispensed per year were 11.1 and 12.6, respectively (P<0.05). In the lanreotide group, 28% self-injected, while 29% were not aware they could self-inject. In the octreotide group, 3% self-injected and 73% were unaware of the availability of an SSA for self-injection. Most patients (61%) felt well-informed about their disease and treatment. Nurses were generally experienced and felt confident and well-informed about giving SSA injections; however, only 12% felt well-informed about the disease and treatment.

CONCLUSION

Those treated with lanreotide reported fewer injection problems and experienced less pre-injection anxiety than those treated with octreotide. SSA choice did not appear to affect patients' HRQoL. Some patients treated with octreotide were unaware of an SSA with the flexibility of self-injection.

Gastric carcinoid in a patient infected with Helicobacter pylori: A new entity?

There are four types of gastric carcinoid tumors, classified according to their histology and malignant potential. Only a few cases of carcinoid tumors in patients infected with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) have been reported so far. We report a patient infected with H. pylori presenting with a small solitary gastric carcinoid tumor with very low proliferative rate and normal gastrin levels. The tumor was endoscopically removed and the patient received an eradication therapy against H. pylori. No signs of metastatic disease have been found so far during more than 3 year of follow-up. Infection with H. pylori may cause chronic gastritis with normal or elevated gastrin levels, leading to the development of gastric carcinoids by mechanisms unrelated to gastrin. Enterochromaffin-like cell tumors related to a chronic H. pylori infection may be considered as a distinct type of gastric carcinoid tumors.

Temozolomide as monotherapy is effective in treatment of advanced malignant neuroendocrine tumors

PURPOSE

A retrospective analysis of the toxicity and efficacy of temozolomide in advanced neuroendocrine tumors.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

Thirty-six patients with advanced stages of neuroendocrine tumor (1 gastric, 7 thymic and 13 bronchial carcinoids, 12 pancreatic endocrine tumors, 1 paraganglioma, 1 neuroendocrine foregut, and 1 neuroendocrine cecal cancer) were treated with temozolomide (200 mg/m(2)) for 5 days every 4 weeks. Patients had previously received a mean of 2.4 antitumoral medical regimens. Tumor response was evaluated radiologically according to the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors every 3 months on an intent-to-treat basis. The circulating tumor marker plasma chromogranin A was also assessed. The expression of O(6)-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase, an enzyme implicated in chemotherapy resistance, was studied by immunohistochemistry (n=23) and compared with response to temozolomide.

RESULTS

Median overall time to progression was 7 months (95% confidence interval, 3-10). Radiologic response was seen in 14% of patients and stable disease in 53%. Side effects were mainly hematologic; 14% experienced grade 3 or 4 thrombocytopenia (National Cancer Institute toxicity criteria). Ten patients had tumors with O(6)-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase immunoreactivity in <10% of nuclei, whereas four patients showed radiologic responses.

CONCLUSIONS

Temozolomide as monotherapy had acceptable toxicity and antitumoral effects in a small series of patients with advanced malignant neuroendocrine tumors and four of these showed radiologic responses.

[Tumor markers in pleural effusions in bronchogenic carcinoma and tuberculosis]

Concentrations of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carborhydrate antigen (CA) 50 were measured in pleural effusion and sera of 57 patients with bronchogenic carcinoma and in 73 patients in whom the effusion was the sequela of tuberculous pleurisy. In the group with bronchogenic carcinomas, planocellular was confirmed in 19, microcellular in 17, macrocellular in 2, and adenocarcinoma in 18, while in 1 patient it was not possible to determine the histopathologic structure. The diagnosis of pleural disease was established upon the cytologic examination of the effusion and histopathologic examination of the pleural sample obtained by blind percutaneous needle biopsy or following pleuroscopy. CEA concentration in the sera of patients with bronchogenic carcinoma was significantly higher than in the patients with tuberculosis (p < 0.001), with sensitivity of 44% and ideal specificity and positive predictive value of 100%. In the same group highly significant difference of mean values of CEA concentrations in pleural effusion (p < 0.001), was also found with sensitivity of 60%, significant specificity of 99% and positive predictive value of 97%. CA 50 concentrations in the sera of patients with lung carcinoma were significantly higher than those in the sera of patients with tuberculous pleurisy (p < 0.05), and the sensitivity was 50%, while the specificity was 94% and positive predictive value was 75%. Significantly higher was also the value in the pleural effusion (p < 0.05), but the sensitivity was slightly lower--40%, but specificity was favorable as well as the positive predictive value (94 and 86%, respectively). The results indicate the significance of the determination of CEA and CA 50 in the sera and pleural effusion in the differentiation of malignant from tuberculous pleural effusion.