Characteristics of Neoplasms in Ectopic Humoral Syndromes (2)
Second, an ectopic hormone syndrome may develop in a patient with a neoplasm derived from a tissue that does not normally produce hormones at all. The lung does not normally produce ACTH; when lung cancer cells produce ACTH, which in turn results in Cushing's syndrome, then this clinical entity is referred to as ectopic ACTH syndrome.
It is worth noting that lung cancers associated with the ectopic ACTH syndrome are always small-cell cancers, which possess neuroendocrine characteristics.
