Growth Hormone Therapy and Brain Tumors

As one of the projects of the Adverse Events Study Group of the Foundation for Growth Science in Japan, the literatures on the recurrence and / or regrowth or new formation of brain tumors in patients treated with growth hormone (GH) were reviewed. Since the tumor volume of the sellar lesion can be accurately evaluated only by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the related literatures published after 1990 were retrieved by searching under keywords, such as GH, replacement therapy, brain tumor, recurrence, tumor formation, etc. It is undeniable that GH therapy may result in tumor enlargement only in a very small percentage of cases. However, within a scientifically reliable range of confirmation with large-scale researches and case-control studies, it can be considered that there is no relation between GH therapy and the recurrence or new formation of brain tumors.