UNUSUAL INCIDENCE OF TUMORS WITH ENDOCRIN E ACTIVITY

We report on a female patient who developed five different tumors betw een the age of 53 and 62 years. The following tumors were diagnosed, t hree of which showed endocrine activity: uterine myoma; hemangiopericy toma of the meninges; pleural mesothelioma; preperitoneal leiomyoma; m edullary carcinoma of the thyroid (sporadic form) in a hyperthyroid go iter. Coexistence of hyperthyroidism and medullary carcinoma of the th yroid is rare. Paraneoplastically induced hypoglycemia - in this patie nt induced by the pleural mesothelioma and less by the preperitoneal l eiomyoma - is of similarly infrequent occurrence. Tumors of epithelial or mesenchymal origin may cause hypoglycemia as a result of peptide s ecretion, exerting an insulin-like effect. The detection of IGF-I and IGF-II in the serum confirms the diagnosis. Insulinoma can be differen tiated by the absence of hyperinsulinemia.