Papillary Carcinoma of Thyroid Gland in a Patient Treated with Recombinant Growth Hormone

The first successful treatment of growth hormone (GH) deficient children with GH extracted from human pituitary was introduced during late 1950's. The subsequent availability and use of recombinant GH (rhGH) for different clinical conditions raised the question of whether this new therapeutic modality increases the risk of certain conditions such as leukemia or malignancy. Herein, we report on a 22-year-old man who was diagnosed as a case of GH deficiency at the age of 11 years, was treated with rhGH for 6 years and who developed papillary carcinoma of the thyroid gland 6 years after cessation of the treatment.