Small cell lung cancer and acromegaly: A case report

Growth hormone is a growth factor for normal and abnormal tissues. Patients with acromegaly are postulated to be at greater risk for cancer development. To date, small cell lung cancer in such patients is not reported in the literature. We report a 76-year-old man with frank acromegaly resulting from a growth hormone-secreting pituitary macroadenoma. Small cell lung cancer in an early stage was diagnosed with a presentation of cough and hemoptysis. After considering the poor prognosis of small cell lungcancer and the differences of various treatment modalities for acromegaly, bromocriptine was administered for the pituitary tumor. The patient underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy for small cell lung cancer. To our knowledge, this is the first report of small cell lung cancer in a patient with acromegaly.