Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P01189 (beta-endorphin)
 21,003 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

This report details clinical and pathologic aspects of a patient with small cell undifferentiated carcinoma of the prostate and systemic hyperglucagonemia. A panel of potential serologic markers was evaluated in order to document additional evidence of ectopic hormonal production. Immunocytochemical markers were sought in tissue samples from the primary neoplasm and a lung metastasis. Stains were positive for corticotropin (ACTH) and gastrin in both the prostate and in the lung, but no evidence of excess secretion was documented. These findings are consistent with the notion that neuroendocrine activity is common in undifferentiated small cell carcinomas, regardless of their site of origin.
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PMID:Small cell carcinoma of the prostate. 184 67

The xenograft line, UCRU-PR-2, has been characterized further. Established from a primary human undifferentiated small cell carcinoma of the prostate, it has been maintained as a stable xenograft line in nude mice and is currently in passage 9. The tumor has maintained the features of small cell undifferentiated carcinoma but shows epithelial as well as neuroendocrine characteristics. In this paper, we describe synthesis and secretion of peptide hormones, ACTH, beta-endorphin and somatostatin in vivo and ACTH and beta-endorphin in vitro by the tumor, UCRU-PR-2. This suggests that the gene for proopiomelanocortin is expressed and that processing of the molecule occurs. This line may yield insights into the histogenesis of the subtypes of prostate cancer, and also aid studies of regulation of ectopic hormone production.
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PMID:Ectopic hormone production by a prostatic small cell carcinoma xenograft line. 283 15

Corticotropin-releasing factor, a hypophyseo-tropic hormone that stimulates adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) secretion, has recently been isolated, characterized, and synthesized in the sheep and rat. We report on a patient with metastatic carcinoma of the prostate presenting with anterior and posterior pituitary hormone deficiency together with ACTH-dependent Cushing's syndrome. At postmortem examination, large areas of the median eminence and pituitary stalk were replaced by tumor, but the corticotrophs were markedly hyperplastic. Immunostaining of tumor cells was positive for corticotropin-releasing factor and was negative for ACTH and a wide range of other hormones. Radioimmunoassay and bioassays showed that tumor extracts and further purified fractions were active in corticotropin-releasing factor, and the tumor material coeluted with corticotropin-releasing factor on high-pressure liquid chromatography. These studies demonstrate that ectopic secretion of corticotropin-releasing factor is a cause of Cushing's syndrome in human beings. The features of this syndrome include hypercortisolism, pituitary corticotroph hyperplasia, elevation of circulating ACTH levels, and failure to suppress the pituitary-adrenal axis with exogenous glucocorticoids.
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PMID:Ectopic secretion of corticotropin-releasing factor as a cause of Cushing's syndrome. A clinical, morphologic, and biochemical study. 632 3

We describe the clinical and pathological findings in two Japanese men with small cell carcinoma of the prostate; case 1 was 58 years old and case 2 was 24 years old. Case 1 was initially diagnosed as a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma of the prostate, stage D2, with marked elevation of serum neuron-specific enolase (NSE), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and CA 19-9 levels. The patient had undergone castration and systemic chemotherapy. After three courses of chemotherapy, tumour markers were normalized. However, 6 months later serum levels of tumour markers again rose, and biopsy of the prostate revealed a small cell carcinoma component in the adenocarcinoma of the prostate and benign prostate hypertrophy. The patient was again treated with systemic chemotherapy but died within 1 year after relapse. In case 2, the patient presented with initial symptoms of lumbago and dysuria, and an enlarged prostate was radiologically diagnosed. Shortly after admission he developed ileus, and an exploratory laparotomy revealed a large tumour arising from the prostate and invading the peritoneal cavity. This tumour was pathologically diagnosed as a small cell carcinoma. The patient died shortly thereafter without responding to chemotherapy. Immunohistological evaluation was done using a panel of antibodies against NSE, chromogranin A, CEA, CA 19-9, prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP), prostate-specific antigen (PSA), leukocyte common antigen (LCA), epithelial membrane antigen (EMA), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), calcitonin, serotonin, gastrin, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), and glucagon. CEA was intensely positive in the tumour lesions from case 1, and NSE and ACTH were focally positive, and calcitonin, serotonin, CA 19-9, and PSA were weakly positive only in several cells in the tumour lesions from case 1. In the tumour lesion from case 2, NSE was intensely positive, and chromogranin A was weakly positive. These findings support the neuroendocrine nature of this neoplasm.
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PMID:Two cases of small cell carcinoma of the prostate. 900 36

Ectopic adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) secretion accounts for less than 10% of all causes of endogenous Cushing's syndrome (CS) and is usually associated with neuroendocrine tumors and small cell carcinoma of the lung. We report the case of a 62-year-old man with CS due to ectopic ACTH production by small cell carcinoma of the prostate. He presented with severe hypercortisolism and associated symptoms. Plasma neuron specific enolase (NSE) was grossly elevated. Despite performing a laparoscopic bilateral adrenalectomy, the patient died as a result of sepsis with multi-organ failure. Post-mortem immunohistochemical staining of prostate tumor tissue showed ACTH expression. ACTH staining was also performed in four additional patients with small cell carcinoma of the urinary tract without CS. None of these additional cases showed a positive staining for ACTH. Although a rare cause of ectopic ACTH production, neuroendocrine prostate carcinoma should be considered in male patients with Cushing's syndrome, in particular in those with an occult source of ACTH overproduction.
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PMID:Cushing's syndrome due to ectopic ACTH production by (neuroendocrine) prostate carcinoma. 1832 2