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Insulin resistance and reduced β-cell glucose sensitivity are present in patients with type 2 diabetes. In the present study, we investigated the changes in β-cell function in patients with type 2 diabetes during a 3-year follow-up study. A total of 48 patients with early-onset type 2 diabetes (EOD) and 55 patients with late-onset type 2 diabetes (LOD) were enrolled. Weight, height, waist circumference, hip circumference, blood pressure and plasma levels of lipids, glucose, fasting serum C-peptide (CPR0) and serum C-peptide 6 min after glucagon stimulation (CPR6) were measured. In addition, islet β-cell secretory activity was detected. Subjects with EOD had lower Systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), body mass index (BMI), fasting CPR0, CPR6 and greater glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), triglyceride (TG) compared with subjects with LOD. CPR0, CPR6 and TG were decreased in both EOD and LOD groups 3 years later. The ratio of β-cell function failure was 29.17 and 10.91% in the EOD and LOD groups, respectively, and there was significant difference between the two groups. A positive correlation was identified between the CPR0 and waist-hip ratio, HbA1c in the EOD group. A similar positive correlation was observed between CPR0 and BMI in the LOD group. Collectively, islet β-cell function has declined in patients with EOD, and this change may be more evident when compared with those with LOD.

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Malignant pheochromocytoma is a rare tumor, for which there is currently no effective therapy. Cytoreductive surgery is recommended to reduce tumor burden and relieve the symptoms of catecholamine excess, although complete eradication of the lesions is often not feasible. In patients with advanced disease, for whom surgical resection is not an option, systemic chemotherapy, radiotherapy and treatment with iodine-131-meta-iodobenzylguanidine may be used to achieve symptomatic relief. Although malignant pheochromocytoma is considered to be unresponsive to radiotherapy, a limited number of case reports, although not large patient samples, have been published on the effectiveness of radiotherapy for the treatment of this disease. This is the case report of a 23-year-old male patient with bladder pheochromocytoma invading the prostate, who refused to undergo surgery. The tumor shrank following radiotherapy and had not increased in size 1.5 years after treatment. Similarly, the blood pressure of the patient remained within normal limits without antihypertensive medication; the levels of catecholamines and their metabolites also remained normal. Our case demonstrated that radiotherapy was effective for malignant pheochromocytoma to a certain extent and, therefore, it may be selected when surgery is not feasible.