title: Somatostatin receptor subtypes 2 and 5 are associated with better survival in well-differentiated endocrine carcinomas.
abstract: The majority of gastroenteropancreatic well-differentiated endocrine carcinomas (WDEC) express somatostatin receptors (SSTR). To correlate the expression of SSTR subtypes by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with clinicopathological features and survival in a group of WDEC patients, 42 WDEC tissue specimens from 33 patients were analysed. All patients were treated with somatostatin analogues and had a median follow-up period of 45 months (range 6-196). Neither SSTR2 and SSTR5 expression nor Ki-67 level alone correlated with survival. A significantly better survival rate was observed in patients with tumours expressing SSTR2, SSTR5 and Ki-67 <2%, compared to those with SSTR2- and SSTR5-negative tumours and Ki-67 >or=2% (p < 0.038), with 5-year survival rates of 91 vs. 43%, respectively. Expression of SSTR2 and SSTR5 appears to play a positive prognostic role, possibly correlated with the high affinity that the available somatostatin analogues display for these 2 specific SSTR subtypes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive and Liver Disease, II School of Medicine, University La Sapienza, Roma, Italy. vito.corleto@uniroma1.it
authors.forename: Vito D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Corleto
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Falconi
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Panzuto
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Milione
authors.forename: Ottavia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: De Luca
authors.forename: Pasquale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Perri
authors.forename: Renato
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cannizzaro
authors.forename: Cesare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bordi
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pederzoli
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Scarpa
authors.forename: Gianfranco
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Delle Fave
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004701:Endocrine Gland Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017481:Receptors, Somatostatin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D017481:Receptors, Somatostatin; C094573:somatostatin receptor 5; C093733:somatostatin receptor 2