It was demonstrated that thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) elicited a paradoxical increase in basal GH levels in cancer patients.
Out of 94 cancer patients, 50 were found to be GH responders and this phenomenon was more frequently recognized in female than in male cancer patients. In cancer patients under 59 years of age, the GH response to TRH was significantly greater in females than in males, although there was no sex difference in the GH response in patients above 60 years of age. In female cancer patients, the GH response to TRH was significantly greater in patients under 59 years of age than in patients above 60 years of age, while there was no age difference in the GH response in male cancer patients.
It was concluded that paradoxical responses of serum GH to TRH were recognized in 53 per cent of cancer patients and were more frequently observed in female than in male cancer patients.