Endocrine oncology refers to a medical speciality dealing with hormone producing tumors, i.e. a combination of endocrinology and oncology.
Few centres are specializing in hormone producing tumors only, due to the relatively low incidence. Most centres have gastroenterologists, oncologist or endocrinologists who deal with other diseases as well. One exception is the Uppsala Centre of Excellence in Neuroendocrine Tumors [1] at Uppsala University Hospital in Sweden, where doctors treat only endocrine tumors.
There are many different kinds of endocrine tumors, some of which are listed below:
Multiple endocrine neoplasia is a condition which encompasses several distinct syndromes featuring tumors of endocrine glands, each with its own characteristic pattern. In some cases, the tumors are malignant, in others, benign. Benign or malignant tumors of nonendocrine tissues occur as components of some of these tumor syndromes.
Zollinger–Ellison syndrome is a disease in which tumors cause the stomach to produce too much acid, resulting in peptic ulcers. Symptoms include abdominal pain and diarrhea.
Pancreatic cancer arises when cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a mass. These cancerous cells have the ability to invade other parts of the body. A number of types of pancreatic cancer are known.
Glucagonoma is a very rare tumor of the pancreatic alpha cells that results in the overproduction of the hormone, glucagon. Typically associated with a rash called necrolytic migratory erythema, weight loss, and mild diabetes mellitus, most people with glucagonoma contract it spontaneously. However, about 10% of cases are associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN-1) syndrome.
This is a list of terms related to oncology. The original source for this list was the US National Cancer Institute's public domain Dictionary of Cancer Terms.
Neuroendocrine cells are cells that receive neuronal input and, as a consequence of this input, release messenger molecules (hormones) into the blood. In this way they bring about an integration between the nervous system and the endocrine system, a process known as neuroendocrine integration. An example of a neuroendocrine cell is a cell of the adrenal medulla, which releases adrenaline to the blood. The adrenal medullary cells are controlled by the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system. These cells are modified postganglionic neurons. Autonomic nerve fibers lead directly to them from the central nervous system. The adrenal medullary hormones are kept in vesicles much in the same way neurotransmitters are kept in neuronal vesicles. Hormonal effects can last up to ten times longer than those of neurotransmitters. Sympathetic nerve fiber impulses stimulate the release of adrenal medullary hormones. In this way the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system and the medullary secretions function together.
A carcinoid is a slow-growing type of neuroendocrine tumor originating in the cells of the neuroendocrine system. In some cases, metastasis may occur. Carcinoid tumors of the midgut are associated with carcinoid syndrome.
Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN-1) is one of a group of disorders, the multiple endocrine neoplasias, that affect the endocrine system through development of neoplastic lesions in pituitary, parathyroid gland and pancreas. It was first described by Paul Wermer in 1954.
Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 is a group of medical disorders associated with tumors of the endocrine system. The tumors may be benign or malignant (cancer). They generally occur in endocrine organs, but may also occur in endocrine tissues of organs not classically thought of as endocrine.
A VIPoma or vipoma is a rare endocrine tumor that overproduces vasoactive intestinal peptide. The incidence is about 1 per 10,000,000 per year. VIPomas usually originate from the non-β islet cells of the pancreas. They are sometimes associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1. Roughly 50–75% of VIPomas are malignant, but even when they are benign, they are problematic because they tend to cause a specific syndrome: the massive amounts of VIP cause a syndrome of profound and chronic watery diarrhea and resultant dehydration, hypokalemia, achlorhydria, acidosis, flushing and hypotension, hypercalcemia, and hyperglycemia. This syndrome is called Verner–Morrison syndrome (VMS), WDHA syndrome, or pancreatic cholera syndrome (PCS). The eponym reflects the physicians who first described the syndrome.
Gastrinomas are neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), usually located in the duodenum or pancreas, that secrete gastrin and cause a clinical syndrome known as Zollinger–Ellison syndrome (ZES). A large number of gastrinomas develop in the pancreas or duodenum, with near-equal frequency, and approximately 10% arise as primary neoplasms in lymph nodes of the pancreaticoduodenal region.
Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are neoplasms that arise from cells of the endocrine (hormonal) and nervous systems. They most commonly occur in the intestine, where they are often called carcinoid tumors, but they are also found in the pancreas, lung, and the rest of the body.
Enteroendocrine cells are specialized cells of the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas with endocrine function. They produce gastrointestinal hormones or peptides in response to various stimuli and release them into the bloodstream for systemic effect, diffuse them as local messengers, or transmit them to the enteric nervous system to activate nervous responses. Enteroendocrine cells of the intestine are the most numerous endocrine cells of the body. They constitute an enteric endocrine system as a subset of the endocrine system just as the enteric nervous system is a subset of the nervous system. In a sense they are known to act as chemoreceptors, initiating digestive actions and detecting harmful substances and initiating protective responses. Enteroendocrine cells are located in the stomach, in the intestine and in the pancreas. Microbiota plays key roles in the intestinal immune and metabolic responses in these enteroendocrine cells via their fermentation product, acetate.
Uppsala University Hospital in Uppsala, Sweden, is a teaching hospital for the Uppsala University Faculty of Medicine and the Nursing School. Uppsala University Hospital is owned and operated by the Uppsala County Council in cooperation with the university and serves, together with Enköping hospital in Enköping, as the primary hospitals for Uppsala County. It also fills the function of a tertiary referral hospital for the Uppsala/Örebro health care region and, for certain specialities, a tertiary referral hospital for the entire country of Sweden.
Menin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the MEN1 gene. Menin is a putative tumor suppressor associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1.
Hormonal therapy in oncology is hormone therapy for cancer and is one of the major modalities of medical oncology, others being cytotoxic chemotherapy and targeted therapy (biotherapeutics). It involves the manipulation of the endocrine system through exogenous or external administration of specific hormones, particularly steroid hormones, or drugs which inhibit the production or activity of such hormones. Because steroid hormones are powerful drivers of gene expression in certain cancer cells, changing the levels or activity of certain hormones can cause certain cancers to cease growing, or even undergo cell death. Surgical removal of endocrine organs, such as orchiectomy and oophorectomy can also be employed as a form of hormonal therapy.
Pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors are neuroendocrine tumors localized to the lung: bronchus or pulmonary parenchyma.
Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours, often referred to as "islet cell tumours", or "pancreatic endocrine tumours" are neuroendocrine neoplasms that arise from cells of the endocrine (hormonal) and nervous system within the pancreas.
Hepatic artery embolization, also known as trans-arterial embolization (TAE), is one of the several therapeutic methods to treat primary liver tumors or metastases to the liver. The embolization therapy can reduce the size of the tumor, and decrease the tumor's impact such its hormone production, effectively decreasing symptoms. The treatment was initially developed in the early 1970s. The several types of hepatic artery treatments are based on the observation that tumor cells get nearly all their nutrients from the hepatic artery, while the normal cells of the liver get about 70-80 percent of their nutrients and 50% their oxygen supply from the portal vein, and thus can survive with the hepatic artery effectively blocked. In practice, hepatic artery embolization occludes the blood flow to the tumors, achieving significant tumor shrinkage in over 80% of people. Shrinkage rates vary.