Dr. Pinato Discusses Pheochromocytomas and Paragangliomas

David J. Pinato, MD, PhD, NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer in Medical Oncology, resident, Royal Brompton Hospital and Imperial College London, discusses pheochromocytomas (PCC) and paragangliomas (PGL).

PCCs and PGLs are very rare types of neuroendocrine tumors with poor prognoses, with 20% to 30% of patients either recurring after surgery, or presenting with metastatic disease for which there are no effective treatments.

When the interplay between hypoxia and the regulation of PD ligands were investigated, Pinato says that 15% to 20% of patients with PCCs and PGLs displayed an upregulation of either PD-L1 or PD-L2, suggesting that these 2 targets are somehow involved in the immune tolerogenic environment of these tumors.