Effects of human growth hormone therapy on melanocytic naevi. Skin Cancer

Franchimonts Journal Paper in 1993. Franchimont visited Prince Henry's Hospital in 1973 to learn the trade

Human Growth Hormone Therapy May Stimulate Growth of Melanocytic Nevi On the basis of an observation that melanocytic nevi were stimulated in a patient with Turner's syndrome receiving human growth hormone (HGH) therapy, these authors investigated the effect of HGH on the growth of melanocytic nevi. For six months they photographically followed all melanocytic nevi from 19 patients receiving HGH therapy for hypopituitarism or Turner's syndrome and from 29 control patients, 6 of whom also had Turner's syndrome or hypopituitarism. The authors found a two-fold increase in the rate of growth of the melanocytic nevi in patients receiving HGH, as compared with controls. In another group of 58 patients with hypopituitarism or Turner's syndrome, melanocytic nevi were biopsied and tested for HMB-45 antibody activity. (HMB-45 is an antibody that recognizes melanocytes within melanomas and in a variety of conditions of activated growth.) Of 19 nevi removed from patients not receiving HGH, 18 did not express reactivity to HMB-45. Of 39 lesions removed from patients receiving HGH, 22 showed reactivity to HMB-45, at least focally within the dermis. HMB-45 does not ordinarily stain intradermal nevocytes. The authors conclude that the increased rate of growth of melanocytic nevi and the presence of HMB-45 staining within dermal nevus cells suggest that HGH may have a stimulatory effect on melanocytes. The long-term effects of HGH therapy on nevi growth are not known. Comment: HMB-45 expression by the dermal component of melanocytic nevi has previously been associated with conditions of increased metabolic activity, including some with premalignant potential. This study's finding of HMB-45 staining in conditions with increased rates of growth offers new insights into melanocyte biology. The long-term clinical effects of HGH therapy and its relationship with melanoma is unknown; however, this study suggests that this is a new area for investigation. — BR Smoller Published in Journal Watch Dermatology August 1, 1993 Source Bourguignon JP et al. Effects of human growth hormone therapy on melanocytic naevi. Lancet 1993; 341:1505-1506.