Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Acromegaly is an unusual endocrinopathy due to hypersecretion of growth hormone (GH) and concomitant rise of IGF-1. It is associated with premature of mortality caused by cardiovascular, respiratory and metabolic diseases, as well as increased risk of developing boh benign and malignant tumours. We report the case of a patient with acromegaly associated with papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTC).

CASE

A 50-years -old male patient, followed for acromegaly for 2 years, underwent subtotal transphenoidal surgery of the pituitary macroadenoma with surgical failure as shown on the follow-up hypothalamic–pituitary MRI. As part of the workup, a cervical ultrasound was performed, which showed a multiheteronodular goiter for which he underwent a total thyroidectomy. The anatomopathological examination was in favor of a papillary thyroid microcarcinoma.

Discussion ans conclusion: The coexistence of acromegaly and thyroid cancer is rare. The recrudescence of these two tumors can be explained by the fact that both GH and IGF-1 have mitogenic and anti-apoptotic properties. In addition, as both normal and malignant thyroid cells express IGF-1 receptors, an autocrine role for IGF-1 has been demonstrated in human thyroid cancer cell line. The risk of developing thyroid nodules increases with the age of the disease, hence the interest of regular surveillance because of the risk of malignancy.