A new study presented at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Endocrine Society (ENDO 2025) found that individuals with acromegaly—an endocrine disorder caused by excessive growth hormone secretion—are at a significantly heightened risk of developing various types of cancer, often at younger ages compared with the general population. According to lead researcher Hitam Hagog Natour, MD, a visiting scholar at the pancreatic cancer research lab at the department of surgery in Thomas Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia, “Our findings suggest that acromegaly may play a bigger role in cancer risk than previously thought, highlighting the need for increased awareness and early cancer screening in this population.”
Acromegaly is a rare disorder that affects between 3 and 14 of every 100,000 people. It occurs when the body produces too much growth hormone, putting patients at higher risk for developing certain types of cancer. Produced mainly in the pituitary gland, growth hormone controls the body’s physical growth. Too much of this hormone in adults causes bones, cartilage, organs, and other tissues to increase in size. Common changes in appearance include enlarged or swollen nose, ears, hands, and feet.
Key Findings
In the new study, researchers compared 10,207 patients with acromegaly to 102,070 matched controls. The results showed that those with acromegaly had higher rates of cancers, including colon, gastric, breast, lung, ovarian, prostate, and blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma.
When compared with controls, patients with acromegaly had a higher risk of developing leukemia or lymphoma (3.3 times higher), ovarian cancer (1.9 times higher), breast cancer (1.8 times higher), lung cancer (1.9 times higher), and prostate cancer (1.5 times higher).
Some of these cancers appeared at younger ages in the acromegaly group. Ovarian cancer appeared an average of 7.2 years earlier in patients with acromegaly compared to their matched controls, while lung cancer was diagnosed 3.2 years earlier, liver cancer appeared 6.3 years earlier, and neuroendocrine cancer was diagnosed 5.7 years earlier.
Disclosure: For full disclosures of the study authors, visit the www.endocrine.org.
