Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0027627 (metastases)
 103,950 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Recent studies showed that both the pineal gland and the endogenous opioid system are involved in the modulation of the immune system and in the regulation of tumor growth. Moreover, a relationship between pineal and opioid system has been demonstrated. In order get an overall view of the psychoneuroendocrine interactions in cancer patients, the levels of melatonin, the most important pineal hormone, and of beta-endorphin have been measured on blood samples collected during the morning. The study was carried out on 54 patients, 42 healthy subjects, and in 34 patients having illnesses other than cancer. Breast cancer, lung carcinoma, and colorectum cancer were the three neoplasms detected in the patients investigated. Growth hormone (GH), somatomedin-C and prolactin (PRL) levels were also determined. beta-endorphin levels were found to be substantially within the normal range in patients with cancer, whereas those of melatonin were raised in several cases. The beta-endorphin/melatonin ratio was higher than 2 in normal subjects, in non-neoplastic patients and in most cancer patients without metastases, whereas this ratio was lower than 2 in almost all patients in a metastatic stage of the disease. Neither melatonin levels nor those of beta-endorphin appeared to be significantly correlated with GH, somatomedin-C, and PRL concentrations. The low beta-endorphin/melatonin ratio observed in metastatic patients suggests the presence of an unbalanced relation between the pineal and the opioid system in those subjects. Therefore, an anomalous relationship between pineal function and opioid activity might play a role in the clinical course of neoplastic disease.
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PMID:A study on the relationship between the pineal gland and the opioid system in patients with cancer. Preliminary considerations. 296 35

Hypophysectomy was studied for its possible effects on cancer by alt eration of the endorcines at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center beginning in 1953. The major effort has been the treatment of 850 cases of metastic breast cancer. In 80 patients with other types of metastatic cancer benefit was found only in 50 cases of prostatic cancer. Prolactin is mediated directly from the anterior pituitary to breast tissue where it aids and abets the growth of breast cancer; its secretion is largely dependent on the estrogen produced in ovaries and adrenals. In humans estrogen given after total hypophysectomy is found to be ineffective in altering metastases. Growth hormone is also produced in the anteriod lobe of the pituitary but its production is not dependent on an estrogen feed-back mechanism. If the primary cancer is dependent on the presence of prolactin, failures with hypophysectomy are explained the tumor having gained autonomy and being no longer so dependent. Contraindications to hypophysectomy include extensive pulmonary, liver, or brain metastases and any systemic disease that would preclude major surgery. Following a remission after oophorectomy, another remission with hypophysectomy may often be obtained. Neither the pathological type of a breast cancer nor the location of metastases alter the results. However the longer the interval between mastectomy and reactivation of the tumor, the more favorable the outlook. Maintenance substitution therapy following removal of the pituitary employs daily hydrocortisone, 17.5 mg orally, or equivalent steroid preparations. The mortality rate is 2% in the first 30 days after operation. In 88 patients evaluated 2 years after operation those who had received a remisssion lasting over 6 months survived nearly 5 times longer than those unbenefitted by the operation. The intracranial procedure is preferred. In cases of failure or when a remission terminates, male hormone therapy, chemotherapy, or radiation may have limited value.
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PMID:Hypophysectomy for metastatic cancer. 466 60

Growth hormone (GH) has been known to enhance immune responses, whether directly or through the insulin like growth factor-1, induced by GH. Recently a nonpeptidyl small m.w. compound, a GH secretagogue (GHS), was found to induce the production of GH by the pituitary gland. In this study, we examined the effect of GHS in immunological functions of 5- to 6-wk-old and 16- to 24-month-old mice. In young mice, we observed a significant increase in PBLs, but T and B cell-proliferative responses were not consistently enhanced. The old mice, treated with GHS for 3 wk, did not show increases in peripheral lymphocytes, but they exhibited a statistically significant increase in thymic cellularity and differentiation. When inoculated with a transplantable lymphoma cell line, EL4, the treated old mice showed statistically significant resistance to the initiation of tumors and the subsequent metastases. Generation of CTL to EL4 cells was also enhanced in the treated mice, suggesting that GHS has a considerable immune enhancing effect, particularly in the old mice. We have also found that GHS promoted better thymic engraftment in bone marrow transplant of SCID mice. We found more cycling cells in the spleens of treated mice, suggesting that GHS may exert its immune enhancing effect by promoting cell division in lymphoid cells. These observations ascribe to GHS a novel therapy possible for aging, AIDS, and transplant individuals, whose immune functions are compromised.
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PMID:Immune enhancing effect of a growth hormone secretagogue. 1123 71

Ectopic secretion of growth hormone-releasing-hormone (GHRH) is a rare cause of acromegaly-representing less than 1% of patients. A 25-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital with acromegaly and a 6 x 6 cm infrahepatic mass. Sellar magnetic resonance imaging indicated diffuse pituitary enlargement consistent with hyperplasia. The infrahepatic mass was resected, and the histopathological diagnosis was a well-differentiated invasive neuroendocrine carcinoma of the duodenum with metastases to local lymph nodes. The tumor cells contained cytoplasmic immunoreactivity for GHRH. Because increased IGF-1 concentrations persisted after the operation, the patient was treated with octreotide long-acting repeatable (LAR) injections of 20 mg/month. Growth hormone and IGF-1 levels normalized. After 6 years of surveillance, a left paraaortic mass was detected by uptake of indium 111 octreotide. Surgical exploration revealed metastatic neuroendocrine carcinoma in a 2.5-cm lymph node. Postoperatively, the IGF-1 concentration was mildly elevated. Octreotide LAR therapy is being continued at 10 mg/month. This case suggests that octreotide treatment may have a beneficial effect on disease course and can be maintained for as long as 7 years in a patient with acromegaly due to a GHRH-secreting neuroendocrine carcinoma.
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PMID:Ectopic growth hormone-releasing hormone secretion by a neuroendocrine tumor causing acromegaly: long-term follow-up results. 1930 Nov 54