title: Acute leukaemia in acromegaly patients.
abstract: Acromegaly patients are known to have an increased risk of malignancies, especially colonic adenocarcinoma. This may be as a result of the growth-stimulating effect of growth hormone (GH). The clustering of leukaemia in children treated with GH has also caused concern. There have been a few reports of leukaemia in acromegaly patients. We report two patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and one patient with acute myeloid leukaemia among 106 acromegaly patients treated over a 15-year period. Two of the cases received radiotherapy as part of their treatment. Adjusted for age and follow-up years, the incidence of leukaemia in this cohort is significantly higher than the general population. The incidence is also higher than would be expected as a result of radiotherapy alone, suggesting that GH may play a synergistic role.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: W Y
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Au
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: G T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Cockram
authors.forename: Y L
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Kwong
mesh_terms: D000172:Acromegaly / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery; D000208:Acute Disease; D000236:Adenoma / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism / Q000601:surgery; D000328:Adult; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007938:Leukemia / Q000150:complications*; D007951:Leukemia, Myeloid / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy; D015459:Leukemia-Lymphoma, Adult T-Cell / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism; D012306:Risk
chemical_list: D013006:Growth Hormone