Summary
The increase of plasma cortisol in patients with tumors of five different sites compared with a control group of patients with benign surgical diseases amounted to: +39% (breast), +34% (stomach), +86% (intestine), +60% (skin) and +194% (gall bladder). The first detectable increase of cortisol occurred in patients with tumors classified T2 according to the TNM scheme (+27% above the control). Highly significant increases were observed for T3 (+82%) and t4 (+77%) patients.
Patients with palpable lymph nodes showed a most significantly increased cortisol mean value compared with patients without palbable lymph nodes. Similarly, the cortisol mean value of patients with distant metastases was significantly higher than the corresponding value of tumor patients without distant metastases. The question remains open, whether the primary site, the extent of the tumor or the occurrence of metastases is the main determinant for the cortisol increase.
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Schaur, R.J., Semmelrock, H.J., Schauenstein, E. et al. Tumor host relations. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 93, 287–292 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00964585
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00964585