A study in 35 patients with neuroendocrine tumors found that serum ghrelin level was significantly elevated as compared with a physiologic reference range in patients with hepatic metastases, which was interpreted as a co-release of ghrelin from neuroendocrine tumors generated as a physiological mechanism to maintain appetite and BMI (Wang et al. 2007). The gene discussed is GHRL; the disease is neuroendocrine neoplasm.