ACTA ENDOCRINOLOGICA (BUC)

Primary adrenal tumors include a broad variety of lesions, from nonfunctioning incidentalomas to secreting adrenocortical adenomas including Aldosteronism, Cushing or androgen secreting lesions. Primary tumors can occur either in the cortex or the medulla of the adrenal glands, having different histopathological features and also different clinical appearances and treatment approaches. In addition, the adrenal glands can become distant metastatic sites of numerous primary malignancies. The first line of treatment in a broad variety of cases is surgery. After pathology results, in selected cases, apart the oncologic approach, radiotherapy could be an important therapeutic tool. In this paper we will discuss the role of radiotherapy in the treatment of adrenal gland lesions.

Anthracyclines are used in breast cancer both in early and advanced stages and their recommendation together with taxanes, either concurrently or sequentially, is debatable and individualized by phenotype. Circulating biomarkers have already been introduced in clinical practice for metastatic disease monitoring. We questioned whether it might be a role for these markers in neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings too and a general review was conducted. CK18 and CTC were found predictive for anthracycline related response in preoperative setting. Soluble E-cadherin is promising, a retrospective analysis showing a direct correlation with clinical response. CEA, CA 15-3 and HER2 ECD are not of interest for their predictive role.