The objective of the study was to analyze expression of IGF-II and its receptor (IGF-IR) in pediatric and adult adrenocortical tumors and the effects of a selective IGF-IR kinase inhibitor (NVP-AEW541) on adrenocortical tumor cells.
In previous studies, we have shown that overexpression of IGFBP-2 results in increased tumorigenic potential in Y-1 mouse adrenocortical tumor cells, and that these effects are presumably mediated through IGF-independent mechanisms.
These findings confirm the involvement of the IGF system in adrenocortical tumors and suggest that the H295R cell line is a suitable in vitro model for studying the molecular mechanisms of adrenocortical tumor proliferation.