@article{KimpelSchindlerSchmidtPenningtonetal.2023, author = {Kimpel, Otilia and Schindler, Paul and Schmidt-Pennington, Laura and Altieri, Barbara and Megerle, Felix and Haak, Harm and Pittaway, James and Dischinger, Ulrich and Quinkler, Marcus and Mai, Knut and Kroiss, Matthias and Polat, B{\"u}lent and Fassnacht, Martin}, title = {Efficacy and safety of radiation therapy in advanced adrenocortical carcinoma}, series = {British Journal of Cancer}, volume = {128}, journal = {British Journal of Cancer}, number = {4}, doi = {10.1038/s41416-022-02082-0}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-324411}, pages = {586-593}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Background International guidelines emphasise the role of radiotherapy (RT) for the management of advanced adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC). However, the evidence for this recommendation is very low. Methods We retrospectively analysed all patients who received RT for advanced ACC in five European centres since 2000. Primary endpoint: time to progression of the treated lesion (tTTP). Secondary endpoints: best objective response, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), adverse events, and the establishment of predictive factors by Cox analyses. Results In total, 132 tumoural lesions of 80 patients were treated with conventional RT (cRT) of 50-60 Gy (n = 20) or 20-49 Gy (n = 69), stereotactic body RT of 35-50 Gy (SBRT) (n = 36), or brachytherapy of 12-25 Gy (BT) (n = 7). Best objective lesional response was complete (n = 6), partial (n = 52), stable disease (n = 60), progressive disease (n = 14). Median tTTP was 7.6 months (1.0-148.6). In comparison to cRT\(_{20-49Gy}\), tTTP was significantly longer for cRT\(_{50-60Gy}\) (multivariate adjusted HR 0.10; 95\% CI 0.03-0.33; p < 0.001) and SBRT (HR 0.31; 95\% CI 0.12-0.80; p = 0.016), but not for BT (HR 0.66; 95\% CI 0.22-1.99; p = 0.46). Toxicity was generally mild and moderate with three grade 3 events. No convincing predictive factors could be established. Conclusions This largest published study on RT in advanced ACC provides clear evidence that RT is effective in ACC.}, language = {en} } @article{RemdeKranzMorelletal.2023, author = {Remde, Hanna and Kranz, Stefanie and Morell, Sarah Maria and Altieri, Barbara and Kroiss, Matthias and Detomas, Mario and Fassnacht, Martin and Deutschbein, Timo}, title = {Clinical course of patients with adrenal incidentalomas and cortisol autonomy}, series = {Frontiers in Endocrinology}, volume = {14}, journal = {Frontiers in Endocrinology}, issn = {1664-2392}, doi = {10.3389/fendo.2023.1123132}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-316793}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Background Adrenal incidentalomas with cortisol autonomy are associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Specific data on the clinical and biochemical course of affected patients are lacking. Methods Retrospective study from a tertiary referral centre in Germany. After exclusion of overt hormone excess, malignancy and glucocorticoid medication, patients with adrenal incidentalomas were stratified according to serum cortisol after 1 mg dexamethasone: autonomous cortisol secretion (ACS), >5.0; possible ACS (PACS), 1.9-5.0; non-functioning adenomas (NFA), ≤1.8 µg/dl. Results A total of 260 patients were enrolled (147 women (56.5\%), median follow-up 8.8 (2.0-20.8) years). At initial diagnosis, median age was 59.5 (20-82) years, and median tumour size was 27 (10-116) mm. Bilateral tumours were more prevalent in ACS (30.0\%) and PACS (21.9\%) than in NFA (8.1\%). Over time, 40/124 (32.3\%) patients had a shift of their hormonal secretion pattern (NFA to PACS/ACS, n=15/53; PACS to ACS, n=6/47; ACS to PACS, n=11/24; PACS to NFA, n=8/47). However, none of the patients developed overt Cushing's syndrome. Sixty-one patients underwent adrenalectomy (NFA, 17.9\%; PACS, 24.0\%; ACS, 39.0\%). When non-operated patients with NFA were compared to PACS and ACS at last follow-up, arterial hypertension (65.3\% vs. 81.9\% and 92.0\%; p<0.05), diabetes (23.8\% vs. 35.6\% and 40.0\%; p<0.01), and thromboembolic events (PACS: HR 3.43, 95\%-CI 0.89-13.29; ACS: HR 5.96, 95\%-CI 1.33-26.63; p<0.05) were significantly less frequent, along with a trend towards a higher rate of cardiovascular events in case of cortisol autonomy (PACS: HR 2.23, 95\%-CI 0.94-5.32; ACS: HR 2.60, 95\%-CI 0.87-7.79; p=0.1). Twenty-five (12.6\%) of the non-operated patients died, with higher overall mortality in PACS (HR 2.6, 95\%-CI 1.0-4.7; p=0.083) and ACS (HR 4.7, 95\%-CI 1.6-13.3; p<0.005) compared to NFA. In operated patients, prevalence of arterial hypertension decreased significantly (77.0\% at diagnosis to 61.7\% at last follow-up; p<0.05). The prevalence of cardiovascular events and mortality did not differ significantly between operated and non-operated patients, whereas thromboembolic events were significantly less frequent in the surgical treatment group. Conclusion Our study confirms relevant cardiovascular morbidity in patients with adrenal incidentalomas (especially those with cortisol autonomy). These patients should therefore be monitored carefully, including adequate treatment of typical cardiovascular risk factors. Adrenalectomy was associated with a significantly decreased prevalence of hypertension. However, more than 30\% of patients required reclassification according to repeated dexamethasone suppression tests. Thus, cortisol autonomy should ideally be confirmed before making any relevant treatment decision (e.g. adrenalectomy).}, language = {en} }