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Background: Glioblastoma is one of the most devastating and incurable cancers due to its aggressive behaviour and lack of available therapies, being its overall-survival from diagnosis ∼14-months. Thus, identification of new therapeutic tools is urgently needed. Interestingly, metabolism-related drugs (e.g., metformin/statins) are emerging as efficient antitumour agents for several cancers. Herein, we evaluated the in vitro/in vivo effects of metformin and/or statins on key clinical/functional/molecular/signalling parameters in glioblastoma patients/cells., Methods: An exploratory-observational-randomized retrospective glioblastoma patient cohort (n = 85), human glioblastoma/non-tumour brain human cells (cell lines/patient-derived cell cultures), mouse astrocytes progenitor cell cultures, and a preclinical xenograft glioblastoma mouse model were used to measure key functional parameters, signalling-pathways and/or antitumour progression in response to metformin and/or simvastatin., Findings: Metformin and simvastatin exerted strong antitumour actions in glioblastoma cell cultures (i.e., proliferation/migration/tumoursphere/colony-formation/VEGF-secretion inhibition and apoptosis/senescence induction). Notably, their combination additively altered these functional parameters vs. individual treatments. These actions were mediated by the modulation of key oncogenic signalling-pathways (i.e., AKT/JAK-STAT/NF-κB/TGFβ-pathways). Interestingly, an enrichment analysis uncovered a TGFβ-pathway activation, together with AKT inactivation, in response to metformin + simvastatin combination, which might be linked to an induction of the senescence-state, the associated secretory-phenotype, and to the dysregulation of spliceosome components. Remarkably, the antitumour actions of metformin + simvastatin combination were also observed in vivo [i.e., association with longer overall-survival in human, and reduction in tumour-progression in a mouse model (reduced tumour-size/weight/mitosis-number, and increased apoptosis)]., Interpretation: Altogether, metformin and simvastatin reduce aggressiveness features in glioblastomas, being this effect significantly more effective (in vitro/in vivo) when both drugs are combined, offering a clinically relevant opportunity that should be tested for their use in humans., Funding: Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities; Junta de Andalucía; CIBERobn (CIBER is an initiative of Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spanish Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality)., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare that no-competing financial and/or non-financial interests concerning the work exist., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction and Objectives: Ovarian tumours are rare in childhood, and account for 1-5% of all tumours. The aim of this study is to determine the epidemiological features, histological subtypes, and therapeutic management of ovarian solid ovarian tumours of the paediatric population of the province of Cordoba, in Spain., Material and Methods: A retrospective, descriptive, observational and institutional study was conducted in which a review was made of the clinical histories of patients younger than 14years-old diagnosed with ovarian tumours, excluding secondary tumours in a University Hospital between 1994 and 2017. A review was carried out on the age, clinical presentation, laterality, diagnostic methodology, treatment, histopathology, and evolution of these tumours., Results: A total of 37 ovarian tumours were reviewed in 31 patients, 6 of them being bilateral. The mean age was 10.3 (0-14) years, with 58% presenting as a palpable mass. There was no predominance of laterality. The tumour markers were negative. Conservative surgery was performed in 29.7% and adnexectomy in 70.3%. Only one case required post-operative adjuvant chemotherapy treatment (stageI immature teratoma with peritoneal gliomatosis). The histological study shows a predominance of germ cell tumours (65%) against those of epithelial lineage (22%). There were 3 stromal tumours that corresponded to fibroma (Gorlin syndrome), and bilateral gonadoblastoma associated with Frasier syndrome. The most frequent type of tumour was mature cystic teratoma (35.1%). There were no complications in the follow-up., Conclusions: Given that most childhood ovarian tumours are benign, conservative surgery is considered as the first choice, being even more important in bilateral tumours. If there is a family history, it is essential to carry out molecular genetic studies, to rule out associated syndromes., (Copyright © 2020 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Chordoma is a rare, slow-growing tumour arising from remnants of the notochord. It is most often located in the base of the skull and the sacrococcygeal region, being located in the cervical region in only 6% of cases. A rare case is presented of a left para-spinal chordoma, of which less than 10 cases have been reported in literature. It was located at C2-C4 level in a young male with no personal history of interest. Radiographic findings suggested that this was a slow-growing tumour, of cystic dominance, which eroded the bone structures and encompassed the left vertebral artery. Surgical excision was performed, and in the analysis of the surgical piece, cell proliferation was observed, with a stromal myxoid-chondroid appearance, epithelioid and physaliphorous (PAS+) cells, all of them compatible with chordoma., (Copyright © 2017 Sociedad Española de Neurocirugía. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)