News

Eating licorice can increase the amount of cortisol detected in saliva, but licorice consumption does not alter salivary levels of a cortisol metabolite called cortisone, a recent study has found. Cortisone also is less variable in response to other confounding variables, and researchers proposed salivary cortisone may be a more…

PROP1, a pituitary gland protein that regulates gene activity related to hormone production, may play a role in the development of noncancerous tumors that cause Cushing’s disease, a small preliminary study suggested. According to researchers, PROP1 may be a therapeutic target for pituitary tumors. Future studies involving a larger…

Measuring the ratio of cortisol to adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) could help diagnose Cushing’s disease and other forms of Cushing’s syndrome, according to a recent study. “We think that it is possible to diagnose and screening [ACTH-independent Cushing’s syndrome] when CAR [cortisol-to-ACTH ratio] is elevated, and screening CD [Cushing’s disease]…

Recorlev (levoketoconazole) outperformed a placebo at normalizing urine cortisol levels among people with endogenous Cushing’s syndrome in the Phase 3 LOGICS trial. Top-line data from the study were announced in 2020. Full results have now been published in Pituitary in the study, “Levoketoconazole in the treatment…

Long-term treatment with Recorlev (levoketoconazole) safely leads to sustained reductions in cortisol levels, disease signs and symptoms, and improvements in quality of life in adults with endogenous Cushing’s syndrome, according to nearly two years of data from the Phase 3 SONICS trial. Treatment benefits were generally maintained or deepened…

“Mini pituitary tumors” derived from patients, including those with Cushing’s disease, mimic several features of the individual’s tumor, including response to treatments, a study shows. These pituitary tumor-like organoids can serve as models for studies of the underlying molecular mechanisms of Cushing’s disease and to screen for the most…

Pneumocystis pneumonia, a serious infectious complication of Cushing’s syndrome, is associated with a high mortality rate, researchers in France report. The onset of infection tends to occur shortly after beginning therapy to reduce cortisol levels, and is more frequent in patients with cancer-related Cushing’s and/or high levels of cortisol.

A 71-year-old woman with ectopic Cushing’s syndrome saw her clinical symptoms ease after undergoing surgery to remove several nodules from her left lung. One nodule removed was a carcinoid tumor producing adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), while another was due to a lung infection caused by the fungus Cryptococcus. Her infection was associated with immunodeficiency…

Isturisa (osilodrostat) led to sustained reductions in cortisol levels in people with Cushing’s disease over nearly seven years of treatment in an extension phase of the Phase 2 LINC-2 trial. Cardiovascular symptoms were also well controlled throughout the study and no new safety signals were detected. “These data…

Ketoconazole can effectively control high cortisol levels in most patients with active Cushing’s disease for whom surgery is not an effective option, researchers in Brazil report. It “proved to be an effective and safe alternative for [Cushing’s disease] treatment” for 66% of patients at an outpatient clinic of a…