Pituitary Tumors Affect Patients’ Ability to Work, Reduce Quality of Life

Posted on November 10, 2018 by MaryO

Pituitary tumor conditions, such as Cushing’s disease, have a substantial effect on patients’ work capabilities and health-related quality of life, researchers from The Netherlands reported.

The study, “Work disability and its determinants in patients with pituitary tumor-related disease,” was published in the journal Pituitary.

Pituitary tumors, like those that cause Cushing’s disease, have significant effects on a patient’s physical, mental, and social health, all of which influence their work status and health-related quality of life. However, the effects of the disease on work status is relatively under-investigated, investigators report.

Here, researchers evaluated the work disability among patients who were treated for pituitary tumors in an attempt to understand the impact of disease diagnosis and treatment on their social participation and ability to maintain a paying job.

In their study, researchers examined 241 patients (61% women) with a median age of 53 years. The majority (27%) had non-functioning pituitary tumors, which do not produce excess hormones, but patients with acromegaly, Cushing’s disease, prolactinomas, and Rathke’s cleft cyst also were included.

Participants were asked to complete questionnaires to evaluate their health-related quality of life and disease-specific impact on their work capabilities. Each participant completed a set of five questionnaires.

Participants also reported their hormonal status and demographic data, including gender, age, education, and marital status. Specific information, such as disease diagnosis, treatment, and tumor type was obtained from their medical records.

Work status and productivity were assessed using two surveys, the Short-Form-Health and Labour Questionnaire (SF-HLQ) and the work role functioning questionnaire 2.0 (WRFQ).

SF-HLQ was used to obtain information on the participants’ employment and their work attendance. Employment was either paid or unpaid. (Participation in household chores was considered not having a paid job.)

WRFQ is a 27-question survey that determines work disability regarding being able to meet the productivity, physical, emotional, social, and flexible demands. A higher score indicates low self-perceived work disability.

Disease-specific mood problems, social and sexual functioning issues, negative perceptions due to illness, physical and cognitive difficulties, were assessed using a 26-item survey called Leiden Bother and Needs for Support Questionnaire for pituitary patients(LBNQ-Pituitary).

Overall, 28% of patients did not have a paid job, but the rates increased to 47% among those with Cushing’s disease. Low education, hormonal deficits, and being single were identified as the most common determinants of not having a paid job among this population.

Further analysis revealed that more patients with Cushing’s disease and acromegaly had undergone radiotherapy. They also had more hormonal deficits than others with different tumor types.

Overall, patients with a paid job reported working a median of 36 hours in one week and 41% of those patients missed work an average of 27 days during the previous year. Health-related problems during work also were reported by 39% with a paid job.

Finally, health-related quality of life was determined using two questionnaires: SF-36 and EQ-5D. The physical, mental, and emotional well being was measured with SF-36, while ED-5D measured the health outcome based on the impact of pain, mobility, self-care, usual activities, discomfort, and anxiety or depression. In both SF-36 and EQ-5D, a higher score indicates a better health status.

Statistical analysis revealed that the quality of life was significantly higher in patients with a job. Overall, patients with a paid job reported better health status and higher quality of life than those without a paid job.

Although 40% of the patients reported being bothered by health-related problems in the past year, only 12% sought the help of an occupational physician, the researchers reported.

“Work disability among patients with a pituitary tumor is substantial,” investigators said.

“The determinants and difficulties at work found in this study could potentially be used for further research, and we advise healthcare professionals to take these results into consideration in the clinical guidance of patients,” they concluded.

From https://cushingsdiseasenews.com/

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Rare Case of Cushing’s Disease Diagnosed in 7-year-old Boy

Posted on October 26, 2018 by MaryO

A recent case report describes a 7-year-old boy with Cushing’s disease who had an unusual clinical presentation, which significantly delayed his diagnosis.

The study, “A variable course of Cushing’s disease in a 7 year old: diagnostic dilemma,” was published in the Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Rare in children and adolescents, Cushing’s disease refers to overproduction of cortisol caused by excessive adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) secretion from a pituitary tumor. In pediatrics, early symptoms of excess cortisol include weight gain and delayed growth.

Despite being extremely unlikely in children younger than 7, some cases of Cushing’s disease in infancy have been reported.

“If undiagnosed or untreated it can lead to considerable morbidity and mortality, and the inability to detect a microadenoma [tumors smaller than 10 mm in diameter] on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can lead to a diagnostic dilemma leading to unnecessary delays in treatment initiation,” the researchers wrote.

Researchers from the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in New Delhi, India, described a 7-year-old boy who complained of excessive appetite and weight gain in the previous five months. The child weighed 46.8 kg, was 127 cm tall, and had a body mass index (BMI) of 29, indicating he was overweight.

The child’s excess fat was mainly in his abdomen plus he had a round, red, puffy face, which are both common features of Cushing’s disease. He had no history of acute or chronic steroid intake, mood swings, sleep disorders, or issues with eyesight.

Given his clinical presentation, the investigators suspected the boy had Cushing’s disease or pseudo-Cushing’s disease, which refers to situations where the overproduction of cortisol is caused by something unrelated to the disease, such as stress or uncontrolled diabetes mellitus.

Biochemical testing showed the patient had high levels of cortisol, which remained unchanged after a dexamethasone suppression test. In addition, his levels of “bad” cholesterol, referring to low-density lipoprotein, were extremely elevated at 194 mg/dL, where a normal range is defined as less than 110 mg/dL.

Imaging revealed no lesions in the pituitary gland.

The boy was sent home with dietary recommendations. Eight weeks later, he had lost 4 kg, while his height remained the same; he also complained of headaches and various episodes of double vision.

This confused the clinical team as hallmarks of Cushing’s disease include short stature and weight loss triggered by pharmacological therapy. Despite having lost weight, he did not take any medications to help him with it, plus the boy’s height was normal for his age.

Nonetheless, the patient was complaining of neurological symptoms, suggesting progression of Cushing’s disease.

An ophthalmologist did not observe anything abnormal with the child’s eyes that could explain his double vision episodes.

A new series of tests revealed slightly elevated 24-hour urinary cortisol levels, decreased concentration of ACTH, and mildly increased cortisol levels after a two-day dexamethasone suppression test.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a small microadenoma in the right lobe of the pituitary gland.

Using Gamma Knife radiation therapy, a kind of high-precision radiation therapy, and surgery, doctors successfully removed the boy’s microadenoma. Six weeks post-procedure, his cortisol and ACTH concentrations returned to normal.

“MRI findings of the pituitary may be inconclusive in the beginning of the disease process and should be borne in mind during further follow-up. In cases where a clear-cut diagnosis may be difficult, a diligent follow-up is required to ascertain the course of the disease and to make timely diagnosis,” the investigators concluded.

From https://cushingsdiseasenews.com/2018/10/25/rare-case-cushings-disease-diagnosed-7-year-old-boy-case-study/

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Cushing’s Disease Patients with USP8 Mutations More Likely to Achieve Remission After Surgery

Posted on October 24, 2018 by MaryO

Cushing’s disease patients whose pituitary tumors carry a USP8 mutation are more likely to achieve remission after surgery than those without such mutations, a retrospective Italian study found.

The study, “Clinical characteristics and surgical outcome in USP8-mutated human adrenocorticotropic hormone-secreting pituitary adenomas,” was published in the journal Endocrine.

Cushing’s disease is a condition where a tumor on the pituitary gland produces too much of the adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH), which will act on the adrenal gland to make cortisol in excess.

While rare, the condition can be life-threatening, as excess cortisol is linked to an increased risk of infections and cardiovascular complications, along with an increased likelihood of obesity and diabetes.

The reasons some patients develop these pituitary adenomas are far from understood, but researchers recently found that some of these patients show mutations in the USP8 gene. These appear to increase EGFR signaling which, in turn, has a stimulatory role for the synthesis of ACTH.

But more than influencing the development of Cushing’s disease, researchers believe the USP8 mutations may also determine response to treatment.

Thus, a team in Italy examined whether patients with USP8 mutations presented different clinical features and responded differently to the standard surgical procedure, called transsphenoidal pituitary surgery.

The study included 92 patients with ACTH-secreting pituitary tumors who received surgery at the neurosurgical department of the Istituto Scientifico San Raffaele in Milan between 1996 and 2016.

“All surgical procedures were performed by the same experienced neurosurgeon, which is one of the most important factors affecting early and late surgical outcome of pituitary adenomas,” researchers explained.

Among study participants, 22 (23.9%) had mutations in the USP8 gene, but these mutations were significantly more common in women than in men — 28.7% vs. 5.3%. Researchers think estrogens — a female sex hormone — may have a role in the development of mutated pituitary tumors.

Overall, the two groups had similar tumor size and aggressiveness and similar ACTH and cortisol levels before surgery. But among those with microadenomas — tumors smaller then 10 mm in diameter — USP8-mutated patients had significantly larger tumor diameters.

After receiving surgery, 81.5% of patients achieved surgical remission — deemed as low cortisol levels requiring glucocorticoid replacement therapy, normal cortisol levels in urine, and normal response to a dexamethasone-suppression test.

But remission rates were significantly higher among those with USP8 mutations — 100% vs. 75.7%. Also, USP8 mutation carriers required steroid replacement therapy for shorter periods, despite ACTH and cortisol levels being similar among the two groups after surgery.

Among patients who entered remission, 12 (16%) saw their disease return. While more patients with USP8 mutations experienced a recurrence — 22.7% vs. 13.2% — this difference was not significant. After five years, 73.8% of UPS8-mutated patients remained alive and recurrence-free, which researchers consider comparable to the 88.5% seen in patients without the mutation.

Researchers also tested sex, age at surgery, and post-surgical ACTH and cortisol levels as possible predictors of disease recurrence, but none of these factors was associated with this outcome.

“ACTH-secreting pituitary adenomas carrying somatic USP8 mutations are associated with a greater likelihood of surgical remission in patients operated on by a single neurosurgeon. Recurrence rates are not related with USP8-variant status,” researchers concluded.

From https://cushingsdiseasenews.com/2018/10/23/cushings-disease-patients-usp8-mutations-more-likely-achieve-remission-after-surgery/

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Pregnancy Could Be Linked to Onset of Cushing’s Symptoms

Posted on October 2, 2018 by MaryO

More than 25 percent of women with Cushing’s disease experienced their first symptoms within one year of giving birth, a small study by the Pacific Neuroscience Institute found.

The findings suggest a possible causal relationship between the biological stress of pregnancy and Cushing’s disease (CD), with more than a two-fold risk of women developing the disease within one year of pregnancy.

The study, “Pregnancy-associated Cushing’s disease? An exploratory retrospective study,” was published in the journal Pituitary.

Eighty percent of Cushing’s disease cases are women, and most are of reproductive age.

Levels of the body’s main stress hormone, cortisol, normally increase during pregnancy. In the last weeks before birth, cortisol levels are two to three times higher than normal, similar to Cushing’s disease.

Because cortisol levels gradually increase during pregnancy, a diagnosis of Cushing’s disease within the gestation period is problematic.

Circumstantial “evidence suggests a higher incidence of CD immediately following pregnancy, in the peripartum period [a few weeks after childbirth],” the study’s authors wrote.

To shed additional light on the matter, researchers retrospectively investigated the frequency of Cushing’s disease onset related to pregnancy.

A total of 64 women with biochemically-diagnosed Cushing’s disease and treated at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, from July 2007 to December 2017 were included in this study.

For the analysis, patients were divided into three groups:

  1. Women with pregnancy-associated CD: “defined as symptom-onset within 1 year of pregnancy that was explicitly linked to the pregnancy by the patient’s own recollection of her pregnancy and subsequent symptoms related to CD”;
  2. Women of reproductive age: “defined as age 15–45 years, in whom CD onset was not associated temporally with pregnancy within the past year”;
  3. Women not of reproductive age at the time of CD onset.

Results showed that 64 percent of the patients were of childbearing age at the time of diagnosis. Of these, 27 percent (11 women) had pregnancy-associated Cushing’s disease. This might be due to small, slow-growing or dormant corticotroph pituitary adenomas that were stimulated by pregnancy-related hormonal changes; however, this hypothesis was not confirmed by the researchers.

On average, patients in group 1 had two pregnancies prior to Cushing’s disease onset, compared to zero for 30 other women with disease onset during reproductive age. This suggests that undergoing the biological stress of pregnancy more than once could play a role in Cushing’s development.

“Another possible explanation of the association between CD and pregnancy is simply that patients are more likely to remember the onset of their CD symptoms in relation to a landmark life event such as pregnancy and childbirth, which leads to long-term physical changes in most women, irrespective of Cushing’s status,” the researchers noted.

In contrast, 19 of the 30 patients at reproductive age without pregnancy-associated disease had no pregnancies before being diagnosed, which weakens the association between pregnancy and Cushing’s and draws attention to various other factors that may also be involved in disease onset, apart from gestation-related hormonal changes.

The time from the onset of symptoms to diagnosis for women with pregnancy-related disease varied from two to six years.

“It was in fact weight gain or failure to lose weight post-pregnancy, which was the most frequent complaint and presentation in our patients with pregnancy-associated CD, and which often lead to an eventual diagnosis of CD,” the researchers stated.

“As such, appropriate biochemical testing may be indicated in women who 6–18 months after pregnancy, are still unable to lose the weight of pregnancy, continue to gain weight, have new, persistent or more [treatment-resistant] hypertension and diabetes mellitus, and/or other classical stigmata of CD,” they suggested.

All patients with biochemically-confirmed Cushing’s disease underwent surgery to remove pituitary adenoma. Sustained surgical remission rates for groups 1, 2, and 3 were 91%, 80%, and 83%, respectively.

“This possible association suggests a heightened degree of clinical suspicion and biochemical testing for CD may be warranted after childbirth. Further study of this possible link between pregnancy and CD is warranted,” the team concluded.

From https://cushingsdiseasenews.com/2018/09/21/cushings-disease-symptoms-onset-pregnancy-could-be-linked-study-suggests/

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ACTH test after adenomectomy may accurately predict Cushing’s disease remission

Posted on August 24, 2018 by MaryO

A plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone suppression test performed shortly after surgical adenomectomy may accurately predict both short- and long-term remission of Cushing’s disease, according to research published in Pituitary.

“Cushing’s disease is caused by hypersecretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) by a pituitary adenoma, resulting in hypercortisolism,” Erik Uvelius, MD, of the department of clinical sciences, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, Sweden, and colleagues wrote in the study background. “Surgical adenomectomy is the first line of treatment. Postoperative remission is reported in 43% to 95% of cases depending on factors such as adenoma size, finding of pituitary adenoma on preoperative MRI and surgeons’ experience. However, there is no consensus on what laboratory assays and biochemical thresholds should be used in determining or predicting remission over time.”

In the study, the researchers retrospectively gathered data from medical records of 28 patients who presented with Cushing’s disease to Skåne University Hospital between November 1998 and December 2011, undergoing 45 transsphenoidal adenomectomies.

On postoperative days 2 and 3, oral betamethasone was administered (1 mg at 8 a.m., 0.5 mg at 2 p.m., and 0.5 mg at 8 p.m.). Researchers assessed plasma cortisol and plasma ACTH before betamethasone administration and again at 24 and 48 hours, and measured 24-urinary free cortisol on postoperative day 3.

At 3 months postoperatively and then annually, plasma concentrations of morning cortisol and ACTH along with urinary-free cortisol and/or a low-dose dexamethasone suppression test were evaluated at the endocrinologists’ discretion. The researchers defined remission as lessening of clinical signs and symptoms of hypercortisolism, as well as laboratory confirmation through the various tests.

The researchers used Youden’s index to establish the cutoff with the highest sensitivity and specificity in predicting remission over the short term (3 months) and long term (5 years or more). Clinical accuracy of the different tests was illustrated through the area under curve.

The study population consisted of mainly women (71%), with a median age of 49.5 years. No significant disparities were seen in age, sex or surgical technique between patients who underwent a primary procedure and those who underwent reoperation. Two of the patients were diagnosed with pituitary carcinoma and 11 had a macroadenoma. ACTH positivity was identified in all adenomas and pathologists confirmed two cases of ACTH-producing carcinomas.

Of the 28 patients, 12 (43%) demonstrated long-term remission at last follow-up. Three patients were not deemed in remission after primary surgery but were not considered eligible for additional surgical intervention, whereas 13 patients underwent 17 reoperations to address remaining disease or recurrence. Four patients demonstrated long-term remission after a second or third procedure, equaling 16 patients (57%) achieving long-term remission, according to the researchers.

The researchers found that both short- and long-term remission were most effectively predicted through plasma cortisol after 24 and 48 hours with betamethasone. A short-term remission cutoff of 107 nmol/L was predicted with a sensitivity of 0.85, specificity of 0.94 and a positive predictive value of 0.96 and AUC of 0.92 (95% CI, 0.85-1). A long-term remission cutoff of 49 nmol/L was predicted with a sensitivity of 0.94, specificity of 0.93, positive predictive value of 0.88 and AUC of 0.98 (95% CI, 0.95-1). This cutoff was close to the suppression cutoff for the diagnosis of Cushing’s disease, 50 nmol/L. The cutoff of 25 nmol/L showed that the use of such a strict suppression cutoff would cause a low level of true positives and a higher occurrence of false negatives, according to the researchers.

“A 48 h 2 mg/day betamethasone suppression test day 2 and 3 after transsphenoidal surgery of Cushing’s disease could safely predict short- and long-term remission with high accuracy,” the researchers wrote. “Plasma cortisol after 24 hours of suppression showed the best accuracy in predicting 5 years’ remission. Until consensus on remission criteria, it is still the endocrinologists’ combined assessment that defines remission.” – by Jennifer Byrne

Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.

From https://www.healio.com/endocrinology/neuroendocrinology/news/in-the-journals/%7B0fdfb7b0-e418-4b53-b59d-1ffa3f7b8cd3%7D/acth-test-after-adenomectomy-may-accurately-predict-cushings-disease-remission

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