[Fundamental and clinical studies of changes in endocrine conditions in cancer patients]

The aim of the present study was to investigate hypothalamic-pituitary function, pituitary-thyroid function as well as pituitary-adrenal function in cancer patients. 1. Hypothalamic-pituitary function: We already reported a tumor-related paradoxical increase of serum growth hormone (GH) in oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and TRH test, which seemed to be due to changes in pituitary GH cell, not hypothalamus. The high incidence of the paradoxical increase of GH in OGTT was found in patients with hepatocellular cancer and pancreatic cancer, whereas in TRH test it was observed in patients with pancreatic, colonic and gastric cancer. The highly sensitive GH enzyme immunoassay demonstrated in 12 non-responder patients in OGTT a significant reduction of serum GH at 30 minutes compared to basal values. 2. Pituitary-thyroid function: We already demonstrated that a high incidence of low T3 syndrome in elderly cancer patients compared to younger patients and metabolic changes in glucose must be involved in the pathogenesis. In addition, this syndrome is significantly related to prognosis. There were no significant changes in thyroid function before and after curative operation for tumors except in patients with poor prognosis. 3. Pituitary-adrenal function: It was shown that cancer cachexia is characterized by hypercortisolemia, which must be due to a defect of negative feedback control.