Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Vol 66, 88-95, Copyright © 1988 by Endocrine Society

ARTICLES

Comparison of the effects of lung cancer, benign lung disease, and normal aging on pituitary-gonadal function in men

MR Blackman, BD Weintraub, SW Rosen and SM Harman
Department of Medicine, Francis Scott Key Medical Center, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, Maryland 21224.

We retrospectively determined serum total testosterone (T), fraction of T bound, free T index, LH, and FSH levels in 122 men with malignant lung disease, 32 men with benign lung disease, and 106 normal men. Men with malignant and, to a lesser extent, benign lung disease had decreased serum total T and free T index values at the 5th percentiles, with elevations of LH and FSH levels at the 95th percentiles. Linear regression analysis showed reductions in total T and free T index and increases in FSH, but not LH, levels with age in each group. Using multivariate analysis, we found stronger independent effects of disease than age on serum total T and fraction of T bound, but a greater influence of age on free T index. Serum LH values differed by diagnosis, whereas FSH differed by age. Relative to values in the normal men, mean serum total T levels were reduced in men with lung cancer; the fraction of T bound was decreased in the men with lung cancer and increased in the men with benign lung disease, the free T index was decreased in the men with both malignant and benign lung disease, and LH was increased in the men with lung cancer. The hormone and hormone binding results were similar in men with different types of lung cancer. Biochemical evidence of primary and secondary (or combined primary and secondary) hypogonadism was present in 50-59% and 28-32%, respectively, of the men with malignant and benign lung disease vs. 10% of the normal men. These data suggest that 1) there is an increased prevalence of both pituitary gonadotropic and testicular dysfunction in men with malignant and, to a lesser extent, benign chronic lung disease, and 2) the effects of illness are independent of, and quantitatively greater than, those due to age.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. M. Matsumoto Andropause: Clinical Implications of the Decline in Serum Testosterone Levels With Aging in Men J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci., February 1, 2002; 57(2): M76 - 99. [Full Text]

				S. M. Harman, E. J. Metter, J. D. Tobin, J. Pearson, and M. R. Blackman Longitudinal Effects of Aging on Serum Total and Free Testosterone Levels in Healthy Men J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., February 1, 2001; 86(2): 724 - 731. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				M. S. Katz Geriatrics Grand Rounds: Eve's Rib, or a Revisionist View of Osteoporosis in Men J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci., October 1, 2000; 55(10): 560M - 569. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				H. C. Margolese The Male Menopause and Mood: Testosterone Decline and Depression in the Aging Male--Is There a Link? J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol, July 1, 2000; 13(2): 93 - 101. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. D. Veldhuis, Ali Iranmanesh, Thomas Mulligan, and Steven M. Pincus Disruption of the Young-Adult Synchrony between Luteinizing Hormone Release and Oscillations in Follicle-Stimulating Hormone, Prolactin, and Nocturnal Penile Tumescence (NPT) in Healthy Older Men J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., October 1, 1999; 84(10): 3498 - 3505. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]