Study Describes 6 Common Surgical Failures in Cushing’s Disease Treatment

Posted on May 16, 2018 by MaryO

To help improve the effectiveness of surgical treatment of Cushing’s disease, researchers conducted a study to determine common failures. They classified these failures into six different categories.

Results were reported in the study, “Root cause analysis of diagnostic and surgical failures in the treatment of suspected Cushing’s disease,” published in the Journal of Clinical Neuroscience.

The surgical removal of lesions that secrete excess adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) is the first line of treatment for patients with Cushing’s disease. But while this approach is effective in reducing cortisol levels, up to 31 percent of patients fail to achieve remission.

When initial surgery is ineffective, additional surgical procedures may help to improve patient outcomes. Medications also are used for those who do not see results from surgery.

Recognizing the factors that contribute to the failure of surgical treatment is crucial to avoiding a deterioration of patient health and to improving long-term outcomes.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School examined the clinical records of 51 patients suspected of having Cushing’s disease. These patients were followed and surgically treated at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, from April 2008 to July 2017.

In more than 82 percent of the cases, tissue removed during surgery confirmed that the patients had excess ACTH caused by benign tumors in the adrenal gland. Among the remaining patients, two had additional ACTH-secreting tumors, four had no obvious tumor or abnormal tissue, one had a pituitary mass without ACTH secretion, and one had no evidence of tissue changes despite the detection of a tumor during exploratory surgery.

They were followed for an average of 18.3 months, during which 42 patients achieved remission as confirmed by blood tests. Of these, 34 patients did not require additional treatment; four patients needed additional surgeries to achieve control over cortisol levels; and four patients required additional radiosurgery.

Based on long-term patient outcomes, researchers were able to identify six categories of common diagnostic and surgical failures. They include:

  • persistently high cortisol levels despite the successful removal of lesions
  • the failure of tumor resection
  • recurrence of disease
  • a failure to identify the source of ACTH secretion
  • the absence of identifiable lesions during exploratory surgery
  • concurrent tumors.

While the first three are common among patients with a visible lesion on imaging scans, the latter three are characteristic of patients in whom physicians fail to detect a lesion.

Investigators believe that anticipating and recognizing these common failures may help to improve the effectiveness of surgery, symptom management, and overall treatment outcomes.

“The success of surgical intervention can be enhanced greatly by improving patient selection and surgical management by anticipating and subsequently deterring the six common failures described above,” the team concluded. They added that better imaging methods also might improve outcomes for Cushing’s disease patients.

From https://cushingsdiseasenews.com/2018/05/15/cushings-disease-surgery-6-common-failures-found-retrospective-study/

Filed under: Clinical trials, Cushing's, pituitary, Treatments | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a comment »

Rare Nasal Cancer May Have Caused Cushing’s Syndrome

Posted on April 4, 2018 by MaryO

A very rare case of Cushing’s syndrome developing as a result of a large and also rare cancer of the nasal sinuses gives insights into how to screen and treat such an anomaly, of which fewer than 25 cases have been reported in literature.

Paraneoplastic esthesioneuroblastoma (ENB), a very rare type of nasal tumor, may sometimes produce excess adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), leading to symptoms of Cushing’s syndrome, according to a recent case report that describes a case of ACTH-secreting ENB. The report aims to demonstrate the importance of recognizing its pathophysiology and treatment.

The case report, “A Case of Cushing’s Syndrome due to Ectopic Adrenocorticotropic Hormone Secretion from Esthesioneuroblastoma with Long Term Follow-Up after Resection,” was published in the journal Case Reports in Endocrinology.

It describes a 52-year-old Caucasian male who had a history of high blood pressure, severe weakness, abnormal production of urine, extreme thirstiness, and confusion.

He was scheduled to undergo surgery for a 7-centimeter skull base mass; the surgery was postponed due to severe high serum potassium concentrations and abnormally high pH levels. His plasma ACTH levels also were elevated and Cushing’s syndrome was suspected. Since imaging of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis did not show any ectopic (abnormal) sources of ACTH, the ENB was suspected to be the source.

Surgery was performed to remove the tumor, which was later found to be secreting ACTH. Consequently, following the procedure, his ACTH levels dropped to normal (below detection limit) and he did not need medication to normalize serum potassium levels. He then underwent subsequent chemoradiation and has shown no sign of recurrence 30 months after the operation, which is considered to be one of the longest follow-up periods for such a case.

Researchers declared it “a case of olfactory neuroblastoma with ectopic ACTH secretion that was treated with resection and adjuvant chemoradiation.”

“Given the paucity of this diagnosis, little is known about how best to treat these patients and how best to screen for complications such as adrenal insufficiency and follow-up,” they wrote. “Our case adds more data for better understanding of this disease.”

From https://cushingsdiseasenews.com/2018/04/03/rare-nasal-cancer-caused-cushings-syndrome-case-report-says/

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ACTH/Cortisol Ratio May Be Simple, Reliable Test to Diagnose Cushing’s Disease

Posted on March 16, 2018 by MaryO

The ratio between adrenocorticotropic hormone levels and cortisol levels in the blood is higher among Cushing’s disease patients than in healthy people, a new study has found, suggesting that measurement could be used to help diagnose the disease.

Also, higher values at diagnosis could predict if the disease will recur and indicate larger and more invasive tumors.

The research, “The Utility of Preoperative ACTH/Cortisol Ratio for the Diagnosis and Prognosis of Cushing’s Disease,” was published in the Journal of Neurosciences in Rural Practice.

Cushing’s syndrome (CS) is characterized by excess levels of cortisol. In patients with suspected CS, clinicians recommend testing late-night salivary or plasma (blood) cortisol, 24-hour urine-free cortisol (UC), as well as morning cortisol levels after low-dose suppression with dexamethasone, a corticosteroid.

CS may be ACTH-dependent or ACTH-independent, meaning that the high cortisol levels are caused by excess ACTH production.

Patients with CD have elevated levels of ACTH. A tumor, usually an adenoma, causes the pituitary gland to produce excess levels of ACTH, which stimulate the release of cortisol from the adrenal glands. Cortisol usually inhibits ACTH production. However, in CD patients, this feedback mechanism is absent.

Despite extensive research and clinical data, the variable and usually nonspecific signs and symptoms of CD still represent relevant challenges for diagnosis. Clinical manifestations must be associated with biochemical tests, which often have led to conflicting results.

Studies showed that although ACTH levels correlate with the size of the pituitary adenoma, the levels of cortisol do not increase as much. In fact, lower cortisol/ACTH ratios have been reported in patients with macroadenoma – which is greater than 10 millimeters in size – than in those with microadenoma, which is smaller than 10 millimeters.

Conversely, the research team hypothesized that besides their utility for determining the cause of CS, the inverse ratio – ACTH/cortisol – also may be useful for diagnosis.

The team evaluated the pretreatment plasma ACTH/cortisol levels in CS patients with excess cortisol production due to abnormal pituitary or adrenal function. Data from patients were compared with that of individuals without CS.

The study included 145 CS patients diagnosed from 2007 to 2016, 119 patients with CD, 26 with ACTH-independent CS (AICS), and 114 controls with no CS.

Patients’ clinical, laboratory, imaging, postsurgical and follow-up data were analyzed.

Results showed that patients with CD had a significantly higher basal ACTH/cortisol ratio than controls or those with AICS.

“These results showed ACTH/cortisol ratio might be a simple and useful test for the diagnosis of ACTH-dependent CS,” the researchers wrote.

Importantly, the scientists observed that a ACTH/cortisol ratio above 2.5 indicated identified 82 percent of positive CS cases and 63 percent of controls.

Overall, “an ACTH/cortisol ratio [greater than] 2.5 would be beneficial to diagnose CD together with other diagnostic tests,” they concluded.

Patients with recurrent CD showed higher pretreatment ACTH levels and ACTH/cortisol ratio than those who achieved sustained remission. CD patients also exhibited more invasive, atypical and larger tumors, as well as lower postoperative remission and higher recurrence rates.

“Higher ACTH/cortisol ratio might predict poorer prognosis,” the investigators said.

From https://cushingsdiseasenews.com/2018/03/16/acth-cortisol-ratio-reliable-test-diagnose-cushings-disease/

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Case Report Shows Rare Adrenal Tumors Associated with Cushing’s Disease

Posted on March 9, 2018 by MaryO

Pituitary tumors that produce too much adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) have been associated with the development of rare tumors on the adrenal glands, called adrenal myelolipomas, for the first time in a case report.

The study, “Case report of a bilateral adrenal myelolipoma associated with Cushing disease,” was published in the journal Medicine.

Myelolipomas, composed of mature fat cells and blood-forming cells, are usually asymptomatic and do not produce hormones. In many cases, these tumors are detected by accident when patients undergo imaging scans for other conditions.

The cause of these tumors is unknown, but due to their benign nature, they do not spread to other parts of the body. However, they can grow up to 34 centimeters (about 13 inches), leading to tissue death and hemorrhage.

Researchers at Soon Chun Hyang University College of Medicine in Seoul, Korea, described the case of a 52-year-old man with myelolipoma possibly caused by an ACTH-secreting pituitary tumor.

During a routine checkup, researchers detected a mass in the patient’s spleen. Further abdominal evaluations identified tissue lesions in both adrenal glands consistent with myelolipoma. Besides the masses, the patient did not show any other Cushing-associated physical characteristics.

However, the patient’s ACTH levels were two times higher than the normal upper limit. Cortisol levels were also increased and unresponsive to low-dose dexamethasone treatment.

No additional lesions were found that could help explain the high ACTH and cortisol levels. But analysis of blood samples collected from the veins draining the pituitary glands revealed the right gland was producing too much ACTH, strongly suggesting Cushing’s disease.

Both the left adrenal gland and pituitary tumor were surgically removed. The samples collected during surgery confirmed the benign nature of the adrenal tumors, and the diagnosis of abnormal, ACTH-positive pituitary gland tissue.

Three days after the surgeries, hormone levels were back to normal. But a follow-up evaluation five months later again showed increased ACTH levels. Cortisol levels, however, were normal.

For the next seven years, the patient was evaluated every six months. During a five-year period, the size of the right adrenal gland was found to have grown. Imaging analysis confirmed the existence of small, new lesions in both pituitary glands.

“This case confers valuable information about the clinical course of adrenal myelolipoma associated with Cushing disease,” the researchers said. It also “supports the notion that ACTH can be associated with the development of bilateral adrenal myelolipomas.”

From https://cushingsdiseasenews.com/2018/03/08/bilateral-adrenal-myelolipoma-associated-with-cushing-disease-case-report/

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High Levels of MMP-9 Enzyme May Predict Tumor Recurrence in Cushing’s Patients

Posted on March 2, 2018 by MaryO

Measuring the levels of a specific enzyme in pituitary tumors producing excess adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) may help predict the recurrence of Cushing’s disease in patients, a study shows.

The study, “Expression of MMP-9, PTTG, HMGA2, and Ki-67 in ACTH-secreting pituitary tumors and their association with tumor recurrence,” was published in the journal World Neurosurgery.

Cushing’s syndrome is characterized by excess cortisol levels in the blood. In 70 percent of cases, this is caused by pituitary tumors making too much ACTH, a hormone that regulates cortisol production. This condition is called Cushing’s disease.

While transsphenoidal adenomectomy, a surgery to remove a pituitary gland tumor, is the first treatment choice, tumor recurrence rates can be as high as 45 percent.

Only a few studies have investigated the association between biomarkers and the risk of ACTH-secreting pituitary tumors recurring, leaving physicians with limited methods to predict which patients will have a recurrence.

Identifying biomarkers that can effectively predict the potential recurrence of Cushing’s disease would allow clinicians to look for early signs in patients and start appropriate follow-up and therapeutic protocols, avoiding long-term mortality.

Many studies have suggested that matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) enzymes, the pituitary tumor transforming gene (PTTG), and high mobility group A 2 proteins (HMGA2) all play vital roles in the development of pituitary tumors.

Metalloproteinases (MMPs) are enzymes that work to degrade the cell’s extracellular matrix, which anchors the cell, thus enabling tumor invasion. PTTG is highly expressed in pituitary tumors, and is a marker of malignancy in many types of tumors. HMGA2 is overexpressed in various tumors, and is also associated with high malignancy.

However, whether levels of MMP-9, PTTG, and HMGA2 are related to ACTH-secreting tumor recurrence has not been investigated.

Researchers set out to determine the expression levels of MMP-9, PTTG, HMGA2, and Ki-67 (a marker of cell growth) in ACTH-secreting pituitary tumors, and evaluate their association with tumor behavior and recurrence.

They conducted a retrospective study that included 55 patients with sporadic Cushing’s disease with long-term remission after a transsphenoidal adenomectomy. Their tumor specimens were collected and examined.

Patients were divided into two groups based on whether or not they had tumor recurrence. There were 28 patients in the non-recurrent group, and 27 in the recurrent.

Results showed there was significantly increased expression of MMP-9 in tumor samples of recurrent patients, compared with the non-recurrent group. Levels of MMP-9 were also strongly associated with a shorter time period to recurrence (recurrence-free interval).

On the other hand, PTTG, HMGA2, and Ki-67 expression was not significantly different between the recurrent group and the non-recurrent group.

“ACTH-secreting pituitary tumors with higher levels of MMP-9 were associated with a higher recurrence rate and a shorter recurrence-free interval. MMP-9 could be a valuable tool for predicting recurrence of ACTH-secreting pituitary tumors,” the researchers concluded.

From https://cushingsdiseasenews.com/2018/03/02/mmp-9-enzyme-levels-may-predict-tumor-recurrence-in-cushings-study/

Filed under: Cushing's, pituitary, Treatments | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

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