RESUMEN
AIM: To assess the value of pancreastatin as a predictive factor for identifying patients with neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) who respond poorly to somatostatin analogues. METHODS: A retrospective study of patients with NETs. Patient records from the Northern Ireland Neuroendocrine Tumour Register were interrogated. Those who had pancreastatin concentrations measured on two or more occasions, before and during somatostatin analogue therapy (within the set time-limits) were selected. Data relating to diagnosis, surgery, somatostatin analogue therapy and survival outcome were noted. Data were subjected to univariate and multivariate analysis using Cox proportional hazard model. RESULTS: Fifty-nine patients with gastroenteropancreatic NETs fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Factors associated with a poor survival outcome on univariate analysis were primary tumour site (P = 0.006) and rapid rise in pancreastatin during somatostatin analogue treatment (P < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, highly significant clinical prognostic indicators were: tumour location (P < 0.001), pre-treatment pancreastatin (P < 0.001) and pancreastatin change (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study endorses the finding that pancreastatin is a useful prognostic indicator of neuroendocrine disease. On commencement of treatment, one-third of the subjects showed an immediate negative pancreastatin response to somatostatin analogues, which was associated with poor survival. This is the first study to document such an association. These findings have significant therapeutic consequences. In the presence of a rapidly rising pancreastatin alternative, treatment modalities should be sought.
Asunto(s)
Biomarcadores de Tumor/sangre , Tumores Neuroendocrinos/sangre , Tumores Neuroendocrinos/tratamiento farmacológico , Hormonas Pancreáticas/sangre , Somatostatina/análogos & derivados , Adulto , Anciano , Anciano de 80 o más Años , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Análisis Multivariante , Pronóstico , Somatostatina/uso terapéutico , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Midgut carcinoid tumours are uncommon tumours with an unpredictable clinical behaviour and few useful prognostic markers. Somatostatin analogues are widely used in treatment but a survival advantage has not been proven. We analysed features associated with poor prognosis and assessed the clinical implications of the biochemical response to therapy. METHODS: Clinical and biochemical data were collected for patients with midgut carcinoid tumours attending a tertiary referral neuroendocrine clinic from 1978 to 2000. Using death as the end point, univariate and multivariate survival analyses were performed to identify prognostic indicators. The significance of altering biomarkers with therapy was also studied by including repeated measurements of the most prognostic biochemical parameter in a time dependent covariate survival analysis. RESULTS: We identified 139 patients with sufficient data for our analyses. Factors associated with a poor outcome on univariate analysis included: plasma neurokinin A (NKA), urinary 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid output, age, and >/=5 liver metastases. Plasma NKA was the strongest and only independent predictor of outcome on multivariate analysis. Patients in whom NKA continued to rise despite somatostatin analogues had a significantly worse survival than those in whom NKA stabilised or fell (one year survival rate 40% v 87%). Time dependent covariate analysis concluded that survival was better predicted by the most recent plasma NKA value rather than by the initial value. CONCLUSIONS: Plasma NKA is an accurate marker of prognosis for midgut carcinoid tumours. This is the first paper to support a survival advantage in patients in whom plasma NKA is altered by somatostatin analogues.
Asunto(s)
Antineoplásicos Hormonales/uso terapéutico , Biomarcadores de Tumor/sangre , Tumor Carcinoide/tratamiento farmacológico , Neoplasias Intestinales/tratamiento farmacológico , Adulto , Anciano , Anciano de 80 o más Años , Biomarcadores de Tumor/orina , Tumor Carcinoide/sangre , Tumor Carcinoide/diagnóstico , Tumor Carcinoide/secundario , Femenino , Humanos , Ácido Hidroxiindolacético/orina , Neoplasias Intestinales/sangre , Neoplasias Intestinales/diagnóstico , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Neuroquinina A/sangre , Pronóstico , Estudios Retrospectivos , Somatostatina/análogos & derivados , Somatostatina/uso terapéutico , Análisis de Supervivencia , Resultado del TratamientoRESUMEN
A 76-year-old Caucasian woman developed fulminant hepatic necrosis 6 days after an uneventful operation under isoflurane anaesthesia. Laboratory findings included elevated bilirubin, grossly elevated transaminases and prolonged prothrombin time. Radiological investigation showed no evidence of extra-hepatic disease. Serological studies were negative for acute viral hepatitis and autoimmune disease. The patient may have been previously sensitized by exposure to isoflurane 3 years previously but antibodies to tri-fluoro acetate, present in 70% of cases of halothane hepatitis, were not detected in pre-operative or postoperative samples of blood. On the seventh postoperative day the patient died and postmortem examination demonstrated centrilobular necrosis of the liver, with a histological pattern similar to changes associated with halothane hepatitis.