Risk of malignant neoplasms in acromegaly: a case–control study

PURPOSE Acromegaly is a chronic disease resulting from pathological oversecretion of growth hormone and subsequently insulin growth factor-1. Several complications of the disease have been reported, including cardiovascular diseases, respiratory disorders but also increased risk of benign and malignant neoplasms. The aim of the study was to evaluate the risk of malignant neoplasms in the patients with acromegaly in comparison with the control group. PATIENTS AND METHODS Medical documentation of acromegalic patients treated in one medical center between 2005 and 2016 has been analyzed. Results were compared with sex- and age-matched group of subjects with prolactinomas and hormonally inactive pituitary lesions hospitalized in the same department. RESULTS Two hundred patients with acromegaly were included. Control group was composed of 145 patients. Any malignant neoplasm in anamnesis was present in 27 (13.5 %) patients with acromegaly and six (4.1 %) subjects from control group (p = 0.003). Thyroid cancer was present in 14 (7.0 %) patients with acromegaly and two (1.4 %) in control group (p = 0.02). Breast cancer was present in seven women (5.4 % of women) in acromegaly group but none of subjects in control group (p = 0.02). Colon cancer-4 (2.0 %) patients in acromegaly group and 0 in control group (p = 0.14). CONCLUSIONS Malignant neoplasms are significantly more common in patients with acromegaly. Particularly, risk of thyroid cancer was increased over fivefold. Systematic screening for neoplastic diseases should be important part of follow-up in these patients. Further case-control studies are strongly indicated to evaluate which neoplasms are more common in acromegalic patients and what is the exact risk of malignancy.