TY - JOUR A1 - Landwehr, Laura-Sophie A1 - Altieri, Barbara A1 - Schreiner, Jochen A1 - Sbiera, Iuliu A1 - Weigand, Isabel A1 - Kroiss, Matthias A1 - Fassnacht, Martin A1 - Sbiera, Silviu T1 - Interplay between glucocorticoids and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes on the prognosis of adrenocortical carcinoma JF - Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer N2 - Background Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare endocrine malignancy. Tumor-related glucocorticoid excess is present in similar to 60% of patients and associated with particularly poor prognosis. Results of first clinical trials using immune checkpoint inhibitors were heterogeneous. Here we characterize tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes (TILs) in ACC in association with glucocorticoids as potential explanation for resistance to immunotherapy. Methods We performed immunofluorescence analysis to visualize tumor-infiltrating T cells (CD3\(^+\)), T helper cells (CD3\(^+\)CD4\(^+\)), cytotoxic T cells (CD3\(^+\)CD8\(^+\)) and regulatory T cells (Tregs; CD3\(^+\)CD4\(^+\)FoxP3\(^+\)) in 146 ACC tissue specimens (107 primary tumors, 16 local recurrences, 23 metastases). Quantitative data of immune cell infiltration were correlated with clinical data (including glucocorticoid excess). Results 86.3% of ACC specimens showed tumor infiltrating T cells (7.7 cells/high power field (HPF)), including T helper (74.0%, 6.7 cells/HPF), cytotoxic T cells (84.3%, 5.7 cells/HPF) and Tregs (49.3%, 0.8 cells/HPF). The number of TILs was associated with better overall survival (HR for death: 0.47, 95% CI 0.25 to 0.87), which was true for CD4\(^+\)- and CD8\(^+\) subpopulations as well. In localized, non-metastatic ACC, the favorable impact of TILs on overall and recurrence-free survival was manifested even independently of ENSAT (European Network for the Study of Adrenal Tumors) stage, resection status and Ki67 index. T helper cells were negatively correlated with glucocorticoid excess (Phi=-0.290, p=0.009). Patients with glucocorticoid excess and low TILs had a particularly poor overall survival (27 vs. 121 months in patients with TILs without glucocorticoid excess). Conclusion Glucocorticoid excess is associated with T cell depletion and unfavorable prognosis. To reactivate the immune system in ACC by checkpoint inhibitors, an inhibition of adrenal steroidogenesis might be pivotal and should be tested in prospective studies. KW - immunity KW - immunotherapy KW - lymphocytes KW - tumor-infiltrating KW - t-lymphocytes KW - tumor microenvironment Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-229893 VL - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bliziotis, Nikolaos G. A1 - Kluijtmans, Leo A. J. A1 - Tinnevelt, Gerjen H. A1 - Reel, Parminder A1 - Reel, Smarti A1 - Langton, Katharina A1 - Robledo, Mercedes A1 - Pamporaki, Christina A1 - Pecori, Alessio A1 - Van Kralingen, Josie A1 - Tetti, Martina A1 - Engelke, Udo F. H. A1 - Erlic, Zoran A1 - Engel, Jasper A1 - Deutschbein, Timo A1 - Nölting, Svenja A1 - Prejbisz, Aleksander A1 - Richter, Susan A1 - Adamski, Jerzy A1 - Januszewicz, Andrzej A1 - Ceccato, Filippo A1 - Scaroni, Carla A1 - Dennedy, Michael C. A1 - Williams, Tracy A. A1 - Lenzini, Livia A1 - Gimenez-Roqueplo, Anne-Paule A1 - Davies, Eleanor A1 - Fassnacht, Martin A1 - Remde, Hanna A1 - Eisenhofer, Graeme A1 - Beuschlein, Felix A1 - Kroiss, Matthias A1 - Jefferson, Emily A1 - Zennaro, Maria-Christina A1 - Wevers, Ron A. A1 - Jansen, Jeroen J. A1 - Deinum, Jaap A1 - Timmers, Henri J. L. M. T1 - Preanalytical pitfalls in untargeted plasma nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomics of endocrine hypertension JF - Metabolites N2 - Despite considerable morbidity and mortality, numerous cases of endocrine hypertension (EHT) forms, including primary aldosteronism (PA), pheochromocytoma and functional paraganglioma (PPGL), and Cushing’s syndrome (CS), remain undetected. We aimed to establish signatures for the different forms of EHT, investigate potentially confounding effects and establish unbiased disease biomarkers. Plasma samples were obtained from 13 biobanks across seven countries and analyzed using untargeted NMR metabolomics. We compared unstratified samples of 106 PHT patients to 231 EHT patients, including 104 PA, 94 PPGL and 33 CS patients. Spectra were subjected to a multivariate statistical comparison of PHT to EHT forms and the associated signatures were obtained. Three approaches were applied to investigate and correct confounding effects. Though we found signatures that could separate PHT from EHT forms, there were also key similarities with the signatures of sample center of origin and sample age. The study design restricted the applicability of the corrections employed. With the samples that were available, no biomarkers for PHT vs. EHT could be identified. The complexity of the confounding effects, evidenced by their robustness to correction approaches, highlighted the need for a consensus on how to deal with variabilities probably attributed to preanalytical factors in retrospective, multicenter metabolomics studies. KW - confounders KW - metabolomics KW - multicenter KW - plasma NMR KW - preanalytical conditions Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-282930 SN - 2218-1989 VL - 12 IS - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Remde, Hanna A1 - Kranz, Stefanie A1 - Morell, Sarah Maria A1 - Altieri, Barbara A1 - Kroiss, Matthias A1 - Detomas, Mario A1 - Fassnacht, Martin A1 - Deutschbein, Timo T1 - Clinical course of patients with adrenal incidentalomas and cortisol autonomy BT - a German retrospective single center cohort study JF - Frontiers in Endocrinology N2 - 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). KW - adrenal imaging KW - adrenal tumours KW - autonomous cortisol secretion KW - cardiovascular events KW - cardiovascular risk factors KW - dexamethasone suppression test KW - morbidity KW - mortality Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-316793 SN - 1664-2392 VL - 14 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Altieri, Barbara A1 - Sbiera, Silviu A1 - Herterich, Sabine A1 - De Francia, Silvia A1 - Della Casa, Silvia A1 - Calabrese, Anna A1 - Pontecorvi, Alfredo A1 - Quinkler, Marcus A1 - Kienitz, Tina A1 - Mannelli, Massimo A1 - Canu, Letizia A1 - Angelousi, Anna A1 - Chortis, Vasileios A1 - Kroiss, Matthias A1 - Terzolo, Massimo A1 - Fassnacht, Martin A1 - Ronchi, Cristina L. T1 - Effects of Germline CYP2W1*6 and CYP2B6*6 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms on Mitotane Treatment in Adrenocortical Carcinoma: A Multicenter ENSAT Study JF - Cancers N2 - Mitotane is the only approved drug for advanced adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) and no biomarkers are available to predict attainment of therapeutic plasma concentrations and clinical response. Aim of the study was to evaluate the suitability of cytochrome P450(CYP)2W1 and CYP2B6 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as biomarkers. A multicenter cohort study including 182 ACC patients (F/M = 121/61) treated with mitotane monotherapy after radical resection (group A, n = 103) or in not completely resectable, recurrent or advanced disease (group B, n = 79) was performed. CYP2W1*2, CYP2W1*6, CYP2B6*6 and CYP2B6 rs4803419 were genotyped in germline DNA. Mitotane blood levels were measured regularly. Response to therapy was evaluated as time to progression (TTP) and disease control rate (DCR). Among investigated SNPs, CYP2W1*6 and CYP2B6*6 correlated with mitotane treatment only in group B. Patients with CYP2W1*6 (n = 21) achieved less frequently therapeutic mitotane levels (>14 mg/L) than those with wild type (WT) allele (76.2% vs 51.7%, p = 0.051) and experienced shorter TTP (HR = 2.10, p = 0.019) and lower DCR (chi-square = 6.948, p = 0.008). By contrast, 55% of patients with CYP2B6*6 vs. 28.2% WT (p = 0.016) achieved therapeutic range. Combined, a higher rate of patients with CYP2W1*6WT+CYP2B6*6 (60.6%) achieved mitotane therapeutic range (p = 0.034). In not completely resectable, recurrent or advanced ACC, CYP2W1*6 SNP was associated with a reduced probability to reach mitotane therapeutic range and lower response rates, whereas CYP2B6*6 correlated with higher mitotane levels. The association of these SNPs may predict individual response to mitotane. KW - adrenocortical carcinoma KW - mitotane KW - CYP2W1 KW - CYP2B6 KW - SNP KW - biomarker KW - predictive marker Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-200565 SN - 2072-6694 VL - 12 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sbiera, Iuliu A1 - Kircher, Stefan A1 - Altieri, Barbara A1 - Lenz, Kerstin A1 - Hantel, Constanze A1 - Fassnacht, Martin A1 - Sbiera, Silviu A1 - Kroiss, Matthias T1 - Role of FGF Receptors and Their Pathways in Adrenocortical Tumors and Possible Therapeutic Implications JF - Frontiers in Endocrinology N2 - Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare endocrine malignancy and treatment of advanced disease is challenging. Clinical trials with multi-tyrosine kinase inhibitors in the past have yielded disappointing results. Here, we investigated fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptors and their pathways in adrenocortical tumors as potential treatment targets. We performed real-time RT-PCR of 93 FGF pathway related genes in a cohort of 39 fresh frozen benign and malignant adrenocortical, 9 non-adrenal tissues and 4 cell lines. The expression of FGF receptors was validated in 166 formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissues using RNA in situ hybridization (RNAscope) and correlated with clinical data. In malignant compared to benign adrenal tumors, we found significant differences in the expression of 16/94 FGF receptor pathway related genes. Genes involved in tissue differentiation and metastatic spread through epithelial to mesechymal transition were most strongly altered. The therapeutically targetable FGF receptors 1 and 4 were upregulated 4.6- and 6-fold, respectively, in malignant compared to benign adrenocortical tumors, which was confirmed by RNAscope in FFPE samples. High expression of FGFR1 and 4 was significantly associated with worse patient prognosis in univariate analysis. After multivariate adjustment for the known prognostic factors Ki-67 and ENSAT tumor stage, FGFR1 remained significantly associated with recurrence-free survival (HR=6.10, 95%CI: 1.78 – 20.86, p=0.004) and FGFR4 with overall survival (HR=3.23, 95%CI: 1.52 – 6.88, p=0.002). Collectively, our study supports a role of FGF pathways in malignant adrenocortical tumors. Quantification of FGF receptors may enable a stratification of ACC for the use of FGFR inhibitors in future clinical trials. KW - normal adrenal glands KW - adrenocortical tumors KW - FGF-pathway KW - FGFR KW - RNA Expression KW - RNAScope KW - unsupervised clustering KW - patient survival Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-251953 SN - 1664-2392 VL - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Adam, Pia A1 - Kircher, Stefan A1 - Sbiera, Iuliu A1 - Koehler, Viktoria Florentine A1 - Berg, Elke A1 - Knösel, Thomas A1 - Sandner, Benjamin A1 - Fenske, Wiebke Kristin A1 - Bläker, Hendrik A1 - Smaxwil, Constantin A1 - Zielke, Andreas A1 - Sipos, Bence A1 - Allelein, Stephanie A1 - Schott, Matthias A1 - Dierks, Christine A1 - Spitzweg, Christine A1 - Fassnacht, Martin A1 - Kroiss, Matthias T1 - FGF-Receptors and PD-L1 in Anaplastic and Poorly Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: Evaluation of the Preclinical Rationale JF - Frontiers in Endocrinology N2 - Background Treatment options for poorly differentiated (PDTC) and anaplastic (ATC) thyroid carcinoma are unsatisfactory and prognosis is generally poor. Lenvatinib (LEN), a multi-tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFR) 1-4 is approved for advanced radioiodine refractory thyroid carcinoma, but response to single agent is poor in ATC. Recent reports of combining LEN with PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab (PEM) are promising. Materials and Methods Primary ATC (n=93) and PDTC (n=47) tissue samples diagnosed 1997-2019 at five German tertiary care centers were assessed for PD-L1 expression by immunohistochemistry using Tumor Proportion Score (TPS). FGFR 1-4 mRNA was quantified in 31 ATC and 14 PDTC with RNAscope in-situ hybridization. Normal thyroid tissue (NT) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) served as controls. Disease specific survival (DSS) was the primary outcome variable. Results PD-L1 TPS≥50% was observed in 42% of ATC and 26% of PDTC specimens. Mean PD-L1 expression was significantly higher in ATC (TPS 30%) than in PDTC (5%; p<0.01) and NT (0%, p<0.001). 53% of PDTC samples had PD-L1 expression ≤5%. FGFR mRNA expression was generally low in all samples but combined FGFR1-4 expression was significantly higher in PDTC and ATC compared to NT (each p<0.001). No impact of PD-L1 and FGFR 1-4 expression was observed on DSS. Conclusion High tumoral expression of PD-L1 in a large proportion of ATCs and a subgroup of PDTCs provides a rationale for immune checkpoint inhibition. FGFR expression is low thyroid tumor cells. The clinically observed synergism of PEM with LEN may be caused by immune modulation. KW - tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) KW - immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) KW - immunohistochemistry KW - immunotherapy KW - PD-L1 KW - FGFR Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-244653 SN - 1664-2392 VL - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bliziotis, Nikolaos G. A1 - Kluijtmans, Leo A. J. A1 - Soto, Sebastian A1 - Tinnevelt, Gerjen H. A1 - Langton, Katharina A1 - Robledo, Mercedes A1 - Pamporaki, Christina A1 - Engelke, Udo F. H. A1 - Erlic, Zoran A1 - Engel, Jasper A1 - Deutschbein, Timo A1 - Nölting, Svenja A1 - Prejbisz, Aleksander A1 - Richter, Susan A1 - Prehn, Cornelia A1 - Adamski, Jerzy A1 - Januszewicz, Andrzej A1 - Reincke, Martin A1 - Fassnacht, Martin A1 - Eisenhofer, Graeme A1 - Beuschlein, Felix A1 - Kroiss, Matthias A1 - Wevers, Ron A. A1 - Jansen, Jeroen J. A1 - Deinum, Jaap A1 - Timmers, Henri J. L. M. T1 - Pre- versus post-operative untargeted plasma nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy metabolomics of pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma JF - Endocrine N2 - Purpose Pheochromocytomas and Paragangliomas (PPGL) result in chronic catecholamine excess and serious health complications. A recent study obtained a metabolic signature in plasma from PPGL patients; however, its targeted nature may have generated an incomplete picture and a broader approach could provide additional insights. We aimed to characterize the plasma metabolome of PPGL patients before and after surgery, using an untargeted approach, and to broaden the scope of the investigated metabolic impact of these tumors. Design A cohort of 36 PPGL patients was investigated. Blood plasma samples were collected before and after surgical tumor removal, in association with clinical and tumor characteristics. Methods Plasma samples were analyzed using untargeted nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy metabolomics. The data were evaluated using a combination of uni- and multi-variate statistical methods. Results Before surgery, patients with a nonadrenergic tumor could be distinguished from those with an adrenergic tumor based on their metabolic profiles. Tyrosine levels were significantly higher in patients with high compared to those with low BMI. Comparing subgroups of pre-operative samples with their post-operative counterparts, we found a metabolic signature that included ketone bodies, glucose, organic acids, methanol, dimethyl sulfone and amino acids. Three signals with unclear identities were found to be affected. Conclusions Our study suggests that the pathways of glucose and ketone body homeostasis are affected in PPGL patients. BMI-related metabolite levels were also found to be altered, potentially linking muscle atrophy to PPGL. At baseline, patient metabolomes could be discriminated based on their catecholamine phenotype. KW - PPGL KW - metabolomics KW - NMR KW - paired KW - plasma KW - operation Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-326574 VL - 75 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Detomas, Mario A1 - Ritzel, Katrin A1 - Nasi-Kordhishti, Isabella A1 - Wolfsberger, Stefan A1 - Quinkler, Marcus A1 - Losa, Marco A1 - Tröger, Viola A1 - Kroiss, Matthias A1 - Fassnacht, Martin A1 - Vila, Greisa A1 - Honegger, Jürgen Bernd A1 - Reincke, Martin A1 - Deutschbein, Timo T1 - Outcome of CRH stimulation test and overnight 8 mg dexamethasone suppression test in 469 patients with ACTH-dependent Cushing’s syndrome JF - Frontiers in Endocrinology N2 - Objective To evaluate diagnostic accuracy of the corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) stimulation test and the overnight 8 mg dexamethasone suppression test (DST) for the differentiation of Cushing’s disease (CD) and ectopic Cushing’s syndrome (ECS). Methods Retrospective study in 6 European centers. Inclusion criteria: patients with a) overt adrenocorticotropin (ACTH)-dependent Cushing’s syndrome at the time of dynamic testing, b) histopathological confirmed tumors and/or c) postoperative biochemical remission and/or adrenal insufficiency. Optimal cut-offs were calculated via receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis using CD as reference. Results 469 patients were analyzed [78% females; median age 43 years (IQR 19)]. CRH test and overnight 8 mg DST were performed in 420 [CD, n=394 (94%); ECS, n=26 (6%)] and 237 patients [228 CD (96%), 9 ECS (4%)]. Both tests were performed in 205 patients (44%). The post-CRH %-increase at 30 minutes of both ACTH (cut-off ≥31%, sensitivity 83%, specificity 85%, AUC 0.81) and cortisol (cut-off ≥12%, sensitivity 82%, specificity 89%, AUC 0.86) discriminated best between CD and ECS. A test duration of >60 minutes did not improve diagnostic performance of the CRH test. The optimal cortisol cut-off for the %-suppression during the 8 mg DST was ≥55% (sensitivity 80%, specificity 78%, AUC 0.75). Conclusion The CRH test has equivalent sensitivity but higher specificity than the 8 mg DST and is therefore the test of first choice. The diagnostic outcome of ACTH and cortisol is well comparable, however, sampling beyond 60 minutes post-CRH does not provide diagnostic benefits. KW - ACTH KW - Cushing's disease KW - Cushing’s syndrome KW - CRH stimulation test KW - diagnosis KW - ectopic KW - endogenous hypercortisolism KW - high dose dexamethasone suppression test Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-289450 SN - 1664-2392 VL - 13 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Eckhardt, Carolin A1 - Sbiera, Iuliu A1 - Krebs, Markus A1 - Sbiera, Silviu A1 - Spahn, Martin A1 - Kneitz, Burkhard A1 - Joniau, Steven A1 - Fassnacht, Martin A1 - Kübler, Hubert A1 - Weigand, Isabel A1 - Kroiss, Matthias T1 - High expression of Sterol-O-Acyl transferase 1 (SOAT1), an enzyme involved in cholesterol metabolism, is associated with earlier biochemical recurrence in high risk prostate cancer JF - Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases N2 - Background Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most frequent cancer in men. The prognosis of PCa is heterogeneous with many clinically indolent tumors and rare highly aggressive cases. Reliable tissue markers of prognosis are lacking. Active cholesteryl ester synthesis has been associated with prostate cancer aggressiveness. Sterol-O-Acyl transferases (SOAT) 1 and 2 catalyze cholesterol esterification in humans. Objective To investigate the value of SOAT1 and SOAT2 tissue expression as prognostic markers in high risk PCa. Patients and Methods Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples from 305 high risk PCa cases treated with radical prostatectomy were analyzed for SOAT1 and SOAT2 protein expression by semi-quantitative immunohistochemistry. The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards modeling were used to compare outcome. Main Outcome Measure Biochemical recurrence (BCR) free survival. Results SOAT1 expression was high in 73 (25%) and low in 219 (75%; not evaluable: 13) tumors. SOAT2 was highly expressed in 40 (14%) and at low levels in 249 (86%) samples (not evaluable: 16). By Kaplan-Meier analysis, we found significantly shorter median BCR free survival of 93 months (95% confidence interval 23.6-123.1) in patients with high SOAT1 vs. 134 months (112.6-220.2, Log-rank p < 0.001) with low SOAT1. SOAT2 expression was not significantly associated with BCR. After adjustment for age, preoperative PSA, tumor stage, Gleason score, resection status, lymph node involvement and year of surgery, high SOAT1 but not SOAT2 expression was associated with shorter BCR free survival with a hazard ratio of 2.40 (95% CI 1.57-3.68, p < 0.001). Time to clinical recurrence and overall survival were not significantly associated with SOAT1 and SOAT2 expression CONCLUSIONS: SOAT1 expression is strongly associated with BCR free survival alone and after multivariable adjustment in high risk PCa. SOAT1 may serve as a histologic marker of prognosis and holds promise as a future treatment target. KW - prostate cancer KW - SOAT1 KW - cholesterol metabolism Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-271819 SN - 1476-5608 VL - 25 IS - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Detomas, Mario A1 - Altieri, Barbara A1 - Schlötelburg, Wiebke A1 - Appenzeller, Silke A1 - Schlaffer, Sven A1 - Coras, Roland A1 - Schirbel, Andreas A1 - Wild, Vanessa A1 - Kroiss, Matthias A1 - Sbiera, Silviu A1 - Fassnacht, Martin A1 - Deutschbein, Timo T1 - Case Report: Consecutive Adrenal Cushing’s Syndrome and Cushing’s Disease in a Patient With Somatic CTNNB1, USP8, and NR3C1 Mutations JF - Frontiers in Endocrinology N2 - The occurrence of different subtypes of endogenous Cushing’s syndrome (CS) in single individuals is extremely rare. We here present the case of a female patient who was successfully cured from adrenal CS 4 years before being diagnosed with Cushing’s disease (CD). The patient was diagnosed at the age of 50 with ACTH-independent CS and a left-sided adrenal adenoma, in January 2015. After adrenalectomy and histopathological confirmation of a cortisol-producing adrenocortical adenoma, biochemical hypercortisolism and clinical symptoms significantly improved. However, starting from 2018, the patient again developed signs and symptoms of recurrent CS. Subsequent biochemical and radiological workup suggested the presence of ACTH-dependent CS along with a pituitary microadenoma. The patient underwent successful transsphenoidal adenomectomy, and both postoperative adrenal insufficiency and histopathological workup confirmed the diagnosis of CD. Exome sequencing excluded a causative germline mutation but showed somatic mutations of the β-catenin protein gene (CTNNB1) in the adrenal adenoma, and of both the ubiquitin specific peptidase 8 (USP8) and the glucocorticoid receptor (NR3C1) genes in the pituitary adenoma. In conclusion, our case illustrates that both ACTH-independent and ACTH-dependent CS may develop in a single individual even without evidence for a common genetic background. KW - Cushing’s syndrome KW - Cushing’s disease KW - hypercortisolism KW - glucocorticoid excess KW - USP8 KW - CTNNB1 KW - NR3C1 Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-244596 SN - 1664-2392 VL - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Chifu, Irina A1 - Heinze, Britta A1 - Fuss, Carmina T. A1 - Lang, Katharina A1 - Kroiss, Matthias A1 - Kircher, Stefan A1 - Ronchi, Cristina L. A1 - Altieri, Barbara A1 - Schirbel, Andreas A1 - Fassnacht, Martin A1 - Hahner, Stefanie T1 - Impact of the Chemokine Receptors CXCR4 and CXCR7 on Clinical Outcome in Adrenocortical Carcinoma JF - Frontiers in Endocrinology N2 - Chemokine receptors have a negative impact on tumor progression in several human cancers and have therefore been of interest for molecular imaging and targeted therapy. However, their clinical and prognostic significance in adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the chemokine receptor profile in ACC and to analyse its association with clinicopathological characteristics and clinical outcome. A chemokine receptor profile was initially evaluated by quantitative PCR in 4 normal adrenals, 18 ACC samples and human ACC cell line NCI-H295. High expression of CXCR4 and CXCR7 in both healthy and malignant adrenal tissue and ACC cells was confirmed. In the next step, we analyzed the expression and cellular localization of CXCR4 and CXCR7 in ACC by immunohistochemistry in 187 and 84 samples, respectively. These results were correlated with clinicopathological parameters and survival outcome. We detected strong membrane expression of CXCR4 and CXCR7 in 50% of ACC samples. Strong cytoplasmic CXCR4 staining was more frequent among samples derived from metastases compared to primaries (p=0.01) and local recurrences (p=0.04). CXCR4 membrane staining positively correlated with proliferation index Ki67 (r=0.17, p=0.028). CXCR7 membrane staining negatively correlated with Ki67 (r=−0.254, p=0.03) but positively with tumor size (r=0.3, p=0.02). No differences in progression-free or overall survival were observed between patients with strong and weak staining intensities for CXCR4 or CXCR7. Taken together, high expression of CXCR4 and CXCR7 in both local tumors and metastases suggests that some ACC patients might benefit from CXCR4/CXCR7-targeted therapy. KW - chemokine receptor KW - prognosis KW - adrenocortical carcinoma KW - CXCR4 KW - CXCR7 Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-216494 SN - 1664-2392 VL - 11 ER -