Abstract
Context: There has been concern that growth hormone (GH) treatment of children might increase meningioma risk. Results of published studies have been inconsistent and limited.
Objective: To examine meningioma risks in relation to GH treatment.
Design: Cohort study with follow-up via cancer registries and other registers.
Setting: Population-based.
Patients: A cohort of 10,403 patients treated in childhood with recombinant GH (r-hGH) in 5 European countries since this treatment was first used in 1984. Expected rates from national cancer registration statistics.
Main Outcome Measures: Risk of meningioma incidence.
Results: During follow-up 38 meningiomas occurred. Meningioma risk was greatly raised in the cohort overall (SIR=75.4; 95% confidence interval (CI) 54.9-103.6), as a consequence of high risk in subjects who had received radiotherapy for underlying malignancy (SIR= 658.4; 95% CI 460.4-941.7). Risk was not significantly raised in patients who did not receive radiotherapy. Risk in radiotherapy-treated patients was not significantly related to mean daily dose of GH, duration of GH treatment or cumulative dose of GH.
Conclusions: Our data add to evidence of very high risk of meningioma in patients treated in childhood with GH after cranial radiotherapy, but suggest that GH may not affect radiotherapy-related risk, and that there is no material raised risk of meningioma in GH-treated patients who did not receive radiotherapy.
Original language | English |
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Journal | The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - Aug 17 2018 |