A drug therapy seems to have been effective in reversing the symptoms of Ménétrier's disease in a man from Texas, a report in the 7 December
Ménétrier's disease is quite rare and causes a thickening of the stomach lining, and a complete absence of parietal cells, which produce stomach acid. This results in symptoms of persistent vomiting and swelling in the legs. Robert Coffey and colleagues from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Texas, have been researching the role of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor and one of the factors that binds to it — transforming growth factor-α (TGFα) — in the stomach. They have found that the EGF receptor is involved in the growth of cells in the stomach characteristic of this premalignant stomach disorder. Enhanced EGF signalling seems to cause excessive amounts of TGFα in Ménétrier's patients.
The authors treated a 48-year-old man with...
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