The Effect of Treatment on the Intravenous Glucose Tolerance Test in Malignant Disease

PREVIOUTS studies (Marks and Bishop, 1957 Benjamin, 1960 anid Boyd, (lapp and Finnegan, 1962) have shown that there is a decrease in glucose toleranice in a variety of malignant diseases. In one study (Boyd et al., 1962) glucose tolerance was improved after oestrogens had been given for breast or prostatic carcinoma, and this was accompanied by clinical evidence of regression of the malignant disease. It was acknowledged that this phenomenon might be due merely to the effects of oestrogens and be unrelated to the regression of tumour. This paper is concerned with ain attempt to show a relationship between abnormal glucose tolerance in cancer of various types and methods of treatment other than the administration of oestrogens.