ECE2023 Poster Presentations Endocrine-related Cancer (62 abstracts)
1Magna Graecia University, Department of Clinical and Surgical Sciences, Catanzaro, Italy; 2University of Würzburg, Department of Internal Medicine I, Würzburg, Germany; 3ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda, Milan, Italy; 4University Federico II, Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Endocrinology Unit, Naples, Italy; 5University of Rome Sapienza, Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Rome, Italy; 6University of Genova, Genova, Italy; 7IFO, Rome, Italy; 8University of Turin, Turin, Italy; 9University of Verona, Department of Medicine, Verona, Italy; 10University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy; 11University of Rome Sapienza, Rome, Italy; 12University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy; 13IFO, Roma, Italy; 14Humanitas Research Hospital, Milan, Italy; 15Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda, Milan, Italy; 16University of Messina, Messina, Italy; 17University Federico II, Naples, Italy; 18University of Turin, Orbassano, Italy; 19Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori Milano, Milan, Italy; 20Mauriziano Hospital, Endocrinology Unit, Turin, Italy; 21Università di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy; 22University of Messina, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Messina, Italy
The incidence of Neuroendocrine Neoplasm (NEN) and related carcinoid syndrome (CS) increased markedly in recent decades, and women appear to be more at risk than men. As per other tumors, gender may be relevant in influencing the clinical and prognostic characteristics. Unfortunately, there are no studies designed to answer this question in the literature. The present multicentric study was designed to evaluated gender differences, if any, in clinical presentation and outcomes of CS. For this purpose, 144 patients affected by CS were enrolled from 18 Italian high-volume centers following the Neuroendocrine Tumors, Innovation in Knowledge and Education (NIKE) project. Clinical characteristics and treatment were collected. Outcomes were evaluated by progression free survival (PFS) and disease specific survival (DSS). The 144 patients diagnosed were 90 (62.5%) men and 54 (37.5%) women. Age at CS diagnosis was no different between the two sexes (median age 61 years, range 26-83, in men and 60 years, range 23-84, in women, P=0.28). No differences were observed in the site of the primary NEN, with NEN of the intestinal tract being more prevalent in both sexes (80% and 77.8% in men and women, respectively; P=0.74). Patients of both genders differed in clinical manifestations for the occurrence of abdominal pain (53.3% vs 70.4%, P=0.044) and tachycardia (6.7% vs 31.5%, P=0.001), that were significantly more often found in women, and for the presence of lymph node metastases at CS diagnosis, that was higher in men than in women (80% vs 64.8%; P=0.04). Moreover, considering comorbidities and risk factors according to gender, men were more frequently smokers (37.2%) and alcohol drinkers (17.8%) than women (9.5%, P=0.002, and 3.7%, P=0.004, respectively). Women did not suffer from cardiovascular disease compared to men (0 vs 12.2%, P=0.0008). No significant differences emerged in treatment response, prognosis, and overall survival. However, men presented a slightly trend to a shorter PFS (median PFS of 24 months, range 17.1-30.9) than women (PFS 32 months, range 16.7-47.3; P=0.34). This study is the first designed to analyze the impact of the gender on CS. The preliminary analysis showed that, in Italy, the prevalence of CS is higher among men (62.5%), unlike the literature. We found that the clinical presentation of CS was different between the two genders, but no clear differences emerged in outcomes of treatment and survival. The characterization and evaluation of the clinical impact of gender-related differences in CS could improve the treatment and the prognosis.