Hypoglycemia Associated with Extrapancreatic Tumors

Abstract
Two patients had hypoglycemia associated with large and diffuse mesenchymal abdominal tumors. In these, the pattern of changes in blood glucose and free fatty acids after a glucose load or epinephrine injection, high plasma lactate levels, low serum insulin and insulin-like activity and excessive glucose uptake by tumor tissue in vitro indicated that the primary cause of hypoglycemia was enhanced glucose dissimilation by the large mass of the tumor. Deficient compensatory glucogenesis might have been a contributing factor. Divergent patterns of the response of serum free fatty acids to epinephrine injection were related to insulin-dependent and independent hypoglycemia.

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