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Autocrine growth by granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in malignant mesothelioma.

Nishimura M, Itoh K, Ito K, Yanada M, Terauchi K, Fushiki S, Shimada J

Department of Thoracic Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.

We report the first case of a malignant mesothelioma expressing not only granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), but also its receptor. A 59-year-old male carpenter underwent a panpleuropneumonectomy, but the tumor relapsed and spread rapidly, accompanied by leukocytosis. The white blood cell count reached 147,000/mm3 (96.2% neutrophils), and the concentration of serum G-CSF was 77 pg/mL. An autopsy demonstrated that some of the tumor cells produced G-CSF, but more tumor cells and endothelial cells in the tumor expressed G-CSF receptor. It was hypothesized that an autocrine loop involving G-CSF and the G-CSF receptor greatly accelerated the tumor growth.

Published 25 October 2006 in Ann Thorac Surg, 82(5): 1904-6.
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