Cushing’s Syndrome

Posted on May 22, 2015 by MaryO
Prof André Lacroix, MDcorrespondence,  Richard A Feelders, MD, Constantine A Stratakis, MD, Lynnette K Nieman, MD
Published Online: 21 May 2015
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61375-1

Summary

Chronic exposure to excess glucorticoids results in diverse manifestations of Cushing’s syndrome, including debilitating morbidities and increased mortality.

Genetic and molecular mechanisms responsible for excess cortisol secretion by primary adrenal lesions and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) secretion from corticotroph or ectopic tumours have been identified. New biochemical and imaging diagnostic approaches and progress in surgical and radiotherapy techniques have improved the management of patients.

The therapeutic goal is to normalise tissue exposure to cortisol to reverse increased morbidity and mortality. Optimum treatment consisting of selective and complete resection of the causative tumour is necessay to allow eventual normalisation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, maintenance of pituitary function, and avoidance of tumour recurrence. The development of new drugs offers clinicians several choices to treat patients with residual cortisol excess.

However, for patients affected by this challenging syndrome, the long-term effects and comorbidities associated with hypercortisolism need ongoing care.

Read the entire article (there is a fee of $31.50US) here.

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Myth: After a “cure” for Cushing’s, everyone heals and goes back to normal.

Posted on December 13, 2014 by MaryO

Myth: After a “cure” for Cushing’s, everyone heals and goes back to normal. All Cushing’s patients can easily heal with no repercussions after Cushing’s. After pituitary surgery or a Bilateral Adrenalectomy (BLA), life is great and being “cured” means having a “normal” life! After all, surgery is a “cure” and about 6 weeks later, you are back to normal. “Say, you had surgery XYZ long ago! Shouldn’t you be better by now?!!!!”

Fact: I can not even tell you how many people asked me “aren’t you better yet?!” after both of my surgeries! There are too many to count! There is a misperception that surgery means a cure and therefore, healing should happen magically and quickly. No! No! No! This is far from the truth.

The sad reality is that even some medical doctors buy into this myth and expect quick healing in their patients. However, they are not living in their patients bodies nor have they obviously read the extensive research on this. Research has shown that the healing process after surgery is a long and extensive one. One endocrinologist, expert from Northwestern, even referred to the first year after pituitary surgery for patients as “the year from hell”! He literally quoted that on a slide presentation.

It takes at least one year after pituitary surgery, for instance, to even manage hormones effectively. Surgery is invasive and hard. However, the hardest part comes AFTER surgery. This is when the body is compensating for all of the years of hormonal dysregulation and the patient is trying to get his/her levels back to normal.

There is a higher rate of recurrence of Cushing’s then we once thought. This means that after a patient has achieved remission from this illness, it is likely to come back. In these cases, a patient faces other treatments that may include radiation, the same type of surgery, or an alternative surgery.

For many pituitary patients who experience multiple recurrences, the last resort is to attack the source by removing both adrenal glands. This procedure is known as a Bilateral Adrenalectomy or BLA. In these cases, it is said that the patient “trades one disease for another”, now becoming adrenally insufficient and having Addison’s Disease. Both Pituitary and Adrenal patients are faced with a lifetime of either Secondary or Primary Adrenal Insufficiency.

Adrenal Insufficiency is also life threatening and adrenal crises can potentially lead to death. Additionally, research says that BLA patients take, on average, 3-5 years for their bodies to readjust and get anywhere near “normal”. Most patients will tell you that they never feel “normal” again!

Think of these facts the next time you feel tempted to ask your friend, family, or loved one, “why is it taking so long to get better after surgery?”. Remember that in addition to the aforementioned points; problems from Cushing’s can linger for years after surgery! One Cushing’s patient stated, “I’m 5 years post-op and I STILL have problems!” This mirrors the sentiments of many of us in the Cushing’s community. Please be conscious of this when supporting your loved one after treatment.

You can find more information in the following links:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2265.2011.04124.x/abstract;jsessionid=CC58CF32990A60593028F4173902EC47.f03t03?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage&userIsAuthenticated=false

http://press.endocrine.org/doi/abs/10.1210/jc.2013-1470

http://press.endocrine.org/doi/abs/10.1210/jc.2012-2893

This is another article that validates the aforementioned fact about the “cure myth”: http://home.comcast.net/~staticnrg/Cushing’s/resmini%20Cushing’s%20article-2.pdf

Filed under: adrenal, adrenal crisis, Cushing's, Myths and Facts, pituitary | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Call for Papers: Cushing’s Syndrome: New Evidence and Future Challenges

Posted on November 13, 2014 by MaryO

Call for Papers

Cushing’s syndrome is a rare and potentially lethal disease which still represents a challenge for the endocrinologists, being characterized by elevated morbidity even long-term after the remission of hypercortisolism. Several diagnostic issues prevent an early recognition of the disease and rate of recurrence is significantly high after surgical, medical, or radiotherapy management.

Recent advances of biology and medicine are improving our knowledge on genetics and pathophysiology of this disease, both at the pituitary and adrenal level. New therapeutic agents are currently under investigation and an impelling need for efficacy and safety studies is rising in the endocrinology community. At the same time, the role of the “old” agents in the clinical practice is under debate and deserves a thorough analysis on larger series than those currently available. Likewise, the need for specific treatment of comorbidities is a clinical question which still remains unsolved.

We invite authors to submit original research and review articles that will stimulate the continuing efforts to understand the molecular pathology underlying Cushing’s syndrome, the development of strategies to diagnose and treat this condition in adults and children, and the evaluation of outcomes.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Advances in genetics of Cushing’s syndrome
  • Diagnostic issues in Cushing’s syndrome
  • Novel paradigms for treatment of Cushing’s syndrome
  • Role of the “old” pharmacological agents in the treatment of Cushing’s syndrome
  • Persistent increased mortality and morbidity after “cure” of Cushing’s syndrome
  • Role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of Cushing’s syndrome
  • Cushing’s syndrome as model of metabolic derangements
  • Challenges in the diagnosis and treatment of paediatric Cushing’s syndrome
Manuscript Due Friday, 8 May 2015
First Round of Reviews Friday, 31 July 2015
Publication Date Friday, 25 September 2015

Lead Guest Editor

  • Elena Valassi, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

Guest Editors

From http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ije/si/156126/cfp/

Filed under: adrenal, Clinical trials, Cushing's, pituitary, Rare Diseases | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Long-term remission and recurrence rate in a cohort of Cushing’s disease: the need for long-term follow-up

Posted on June 9, 2014 by MaryO

Pituitary. 2014 Apr 19. [Epub ahead of print]


Aranda G1, Enseñat J, Mora M, Puig-Domingo M, Martínez de Osaba MJ, Casals G, Verger E, Ribalta MT, Hanzu FA, Halperin I.

Author information

 Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

Transsphenoidal surgery is the procedure of choice in Cushing disease (CD), with immediate post-operative remission rates ranging between 59 and 94 % and recurrence rates between 3 and 46 %, both depending upon the definition criteria and the duration of the follow-up. Our aim was to assess the rate of remission, recurrence and persistence of the disease after the first treatment and to identify predictors of remission in the CD population of our center.

METHODS:

Retrospective cohort study of the patients diagnosed of CD and with follow-up in our center between 1974 and 2011. We analyzed 41 patients (35 women and 6 men) with a mean age at diagnosis of 34 ± 13 years. The mean follow-up was 14 ± 10 years (range 1-37 years) and the median of follow-up period was 6.68 years.

RESULTS:

Thirty-five (85.4 %) patients underwent transsphenoidal surgery as first treatment option. Histopathological evidence of a pituitary adenoma was registered in 17 (48.5 %) patients. Thirty-two (78 %) patients achieved disease remission after the first treatment, 21 (65.6 %) of them presented disease recurrence. Persistent disease was observed in 9 (22 %) patients. Twelve (29.3 %) subjects developed post-surgical adrenal insufficiency, 7 of which (70 %) achieved stable remission. Two parameters were found to be significant predictors of remission after the first treatment: age at disease diagnosis and the development of adrenal insufficiency (cortisol ❤ μg/dl) in the immediate post-operative state.

CONCLUSIONS:

We report a high recurrence rate, at least partially attributable to the long follow-up time. Early post-surgery adrenal insufficiency predicts remission. Hypopituitarism was also very prevalent, and strongly associated with radiotherapy. These results lead us to the conclusion that CD needs a life-long strict follow-up.

PMID:

 

24748528

 

[PubMed – as supplied by publisher]

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

Cushing’s Awareness Challenge: Day 12

Posted on April 12, 2014 by MaryO

robin-head

 

Mail!  I get all kinds of email asking questions about a variety of Cushing’s issues.  I’m not a doctor and I don’t play one on TV.  I don’t even play one on the internet.  People are desperate for answers, though, so the questions keep coming and I try to answer the best I can.

Here’s a recent question and answer.  Note that you have to be logged into the message boards to view the links in this post.

 

Question: My daughter was diagnosed w/ cushings in 2001 at the age of 20 & had the pituitary surgery.

In late 2013 she was diagnosed with a recurrence. I’ve read that that usually happens within 5 years, not a dozen years.

Regardless, there is a new research program but she was told she doesn’t qualify for it. The other medications offered are either exhorbitant ($100-200,000/year), another causes liver damage, another causes uterine problems. A 2nd surgery is not recommended according to  the surgeon (because there would be only a 50% rate of success due to the scar tissue from the original surgery), and radiation is being vetoed as well, being recommended ONLY as a very last possible resort.

Are there other parents who chat & share experience here? Will I find help as a parent here with my frustration over this disease? Are there other patients who communicate here that are from Michigan?  Are there other patients here who are suffering from the recurrence? Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to find on several sites online today that there are so many success stories; I would just like to know what other options there are that perhaps our Dr. is missing.  Thanks.

My response:

S, since you have a Board Name, I assume that you are a member of the message boards.

There are areas specifically for recurrence – http://cushings.invisionzone.com/index.php?/forum/35-recurrences/

People in Michigan: http://cushings.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/13696-michigan/

Parents of patients: http://cushings.invisionzone.com/index.php?/forum/31-parents-spouses-children-and-friends-of-patients/

The more you read, the more you will learn.  Many patients with a recurrence  have a second pituitary surgery.  She might need to get another opinion from another surgeon.

Another option is a BLA – or have her adrenal glands out.  That can cause other issues, though.

The 2 drugs you  mentioned are Signifor and Korlym.  Although both are expensive, each has a patient assistance plan which lowers the cost dramatically.  Doses can vary dramatically so that they don’t necessarily cause liver or uterine issues.

Ketoconazole is another drug that’s sometimes used.

I did a search on the boards and there are 69 topics for Mifepristone (generic Korlym), 51 topics discussing the brand name Korlym, 40 for pasireotide (generic Signifor), 13 for the brand name Signifor, and 69 for keto (the common abbreviation on the boards for ketoconazole)

Here’s a personal experience from a woman on Korlym who likes it: http://cushings.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/53342-i-like-korlym/?hl=korlym

So – the information is out there.

I know it’s hard to process all this and make decisions.

I know it’s hard to process all this and make decisions. I had my one pituitary surgery in 1987, before the Internet was available so I had to really research all this in medical texts.

At that time, there weren’t any drug options. Just surgery and radiation. I decided off the bat if I should have a recurrence, I would not do radiation. I’d go for another pituitary surgery first, then a BLA if needed.

But that was then and this is now.  There is way more information which is much easier to find.  There are better surgical options and even some more medical ones.

Good luck!

8e1d2-maryo_colorful_zebra

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

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