Ectopic ACTH Production with Autoantibody Formation in a Patient with Acute Myeloblastic Leukemia

A NUMBER of human cancers are associated with ectopic hormone generation. 1 2 3 4 5 Ectopic hormone production, which is usually restricted to polypeptide hormones, is secretion by a tissue that does not normally produce that hormone. The tumors frequently associated with this phenomenon are small-cell bronchogenic carcinoma and gastrointestinal tumors. Reports of ectopic hormone production in leukemia and lymphoma are very rare. Hypoglycemia, 6 7 8 probably caused by insulin-like activity, and hypercalcemia, 9 10 11 12 13 caused by elevated parathyroid hormone levels, have been described in hemoblastosis in some instances. Only calcitonin seems to be elevated more frequently in these tumors, as reported recently. 14 , 15 We describe a patient with . . .