No effect of cimetidine on calcitonin secretion from medullary thyroid carcinoma

The effect of cimetidine on basal and pentagastrin-stimulated serum immunoreactive calcitonin (S-iCT) concentrations was studied in six patients with medullary carcinoma of the thyroid (MCT). Basal S-iCT was elevated in all patients and showed a marked increase after i.v. injection of pentagastrin, 0.5 micrograms/kg b.wt. Cimetidine, 200 mg i.v., 30 min before administration of pentagastrin had no effect on either basal or pentagastrin-stimulated S-iCT. Thus, the mechanisms of basal and pentagastrin-stimulated calcitonin secretion from MCT do not seem to involve agonism with histamine H2-receptors.