Characteristics of Neoplasms in Ectopic Humoral Syndromes
Three categories of neoplasm are associated with ectopic humoral syndromes.
First, these syndromes develop frequently in patients with a neuroendocrine tumour, although the hormone responsible for the syndromes is not the normal product of the original endocrine organ: for instance, when a patient with a typical endocrine tumour such as a medullary thyroid carcinoma, carcinoid tumour or pancreatic endocrine tumour develops Cushing's syndrome due to the production of ACTH, this entity is categorised as the ectopic ACTH syndrome, since ACTH is not the physiological product of these endocrine organs.
