Prevalence of neoplasms in acromegaly: a Turkish single-center retrospective study

Abstract

Aims: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of benign and malignant neoplasms and to assess associated clinical conditions in patients with acromegaly. Methods: In this single center, retrospective and observational study, data from 71 patients with acromegaly followed at an endocrinology and metabolism diseases outpatient clinic between January 2010 and December 2023 were reviewed through the hospital's electronic database. Patients' medical histories, demographic data, blood examinations, medications, pituitary MRI scans, thyroid ultrasound, mammography, colonoscopy, endoscopy, and pathology reports were evaluated. Acromegaly diagnosis was based on elevated insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels and unsuppressed growth hormone (GH) levels after oral glucose tolerance testing. The chi-square test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to compare patients with malignancy to other patients in terms of demographic and clinical characteristics. Results: The study included predominantly female patients (60.6%) with an average age of 55.6 years. The mean age at diagnosis was 44.3±11.3 years, and the mean disease duration was 11.3±8.4 years. Malignancies, including breast, thyroid, and colorectal cancers, were detected in 9.9% of patients. Additionally, thyroid nodules were present in 62% of patients, and colon polyps in 14.1%. No significant differences were observed in clinical features including age, gender, disease duration, GH levels, IGF-1 levels, adenoma size, or remission frequency between patients with and without malignancy (p>0.05 for all). Conclusion: This study reveals an increased prevalence of breast, colon, and thyroid cancers in patients with acromegaly. Performing cancer screenings in patients with acromegaly more comprehensively and at an earlier stage compared to the normal population may be beneficial.