NEOPLASMS IN ACROMEGALY

Abstract

Acromegaly is a rare disease with increased growth hormone secretion most often caused by pituitary adenoma. Not adequately treated acromegaly may lead to early death related to increased rates of acute cardiovascular events, sleep apnea, metabolic disorders and malignancies. Prevalence of malignancies in acromegaly is in the range of 4.5 to 25%, with some specifics in their pathogenesis, and their proportion as mortality cause is 9 to 50%. Overall and cancer-related mortality in acromegaly are associated with activity of the disease. There is a direct correlation between high levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 and the risk of malignancies. The most common types of cancer in patients with acromegaly are colorectal (1 to 20%) and thyroid cancer (7.8 to 11%). This review of literature describes the results of epidemiological studies on malignancies and some aspects of their pathogenesis in patients with acromegaly.

Keywords

• acromegaly
• malignancy
• insulin-like growth factor 1
• somatotropic hormone
• colorectal cancer
• thyroid cancer
• breast cancer