Acromegaly Caused by Secretion of Growth Hormone by a Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Abstract

ACROMEGALY is a systemic disorder caused by sustained hypersecretion of growth hormone. The typical features include thickening of the skin, enlargement of the hands, feet, and mandible, and visceromegaly. 1,2 Active disease is indicated by the presence of excessive sweating and soft tissue swelling. 1,2 Most patients with acromegaly have a growth hormone–secreting pituitary adenoma, 3 but a few (less than 1 percent) have hypothalamic or other tumors that secrete growth hormone–releasing hormone. 4 Isolated ectopic secretion of growth hormone has been reported only once, in a patient with a pancreatic islet-cell tumor. 5,6 Here we describe a patient with recurrent non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and acromegaly caused by ectopic production of growth hormone by the lymphoma.