Prospective Evaluation of Tumor Angiogenesis in Endocrine Neoplasms

Background:

• Endocrine neoplasms are among the fastest growing tumors in incidence in the United States. Between 1995 and 2005, the incidence of thyroid carcinoma has increased 98 percent.
• Tumors of the thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal gland and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors are among some of the most highly vascularized tumors seen.
• Consequently, endocrine neoplasms provide an extremely important model for the study of tumor angiogenesis.
• The Tumor Angiogenesis Section of the Surgery Branch, NCI has a focus on studying neovascular formation in neoplastic tissues. In addition, this section has primary responsibility for providing endocrine surgery consultative services to the NIH. As such, our Section is uniquely positioned to acquire and perform important studies on endocrine tissue to help advance our knowledge of the mechanisms involved in tumor vessel development. The majority of the patients enrolled on this study will be patients on other protocols throughout the NIH, for which our Section is consulted in order to perform their surgery.

Objectives:

Primary Objective:

-To develop a class predictor model based on gene expression patterns to distinguish benign from neoplastic endocrine tissue for each of the endocrine histologies under study. This objective will drive the statistical endpoints of the study.