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A diagnostic test using desmopressin, an artificial form of a naturally occurring hormone, can help to accurately identify people with Cushing’s disease, a study reports. Easier than the current gold standard for diagnosing this disease, the desmopressin stimulation test might “reduc[e] the reliance on invasive procedures and provid[e] a…

Cushing’s disease appears to be on the rise in Iceland, a study finds, underscoring the importance of an early diagnosis. “Advances in diagnostic and treatment options is probably the strongest cause of increased incidence in the later years, but other factors such as genetics can also play a role,”…

A 76-year-old man in Greece developed ectopic Cushing’s syndrome due to an advanced prostate cancer that started producing the adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), leading to unusual symptoms such as muscle weakness, slowed thinking, and low potassium levels. Despite immediate treatment, his clinical condition worsened, and he eventually died. It’s a…

People often do not recognize the typical symptoms and features of Cushing’s syndrome, regardless of their severity, which contributes to a delay in diagnosis, a study found. Moreover, there was a discrepancy between the number of symptoms reported by individuals with Cushing’s and those assessed by clinicians — with…

In what researchers describe as an “exceedingly rare” case, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-producing advanced adrenal gland cancer was determined to be the cause of Cushing’s syndrome in a 26-year-old woman in Portugal. Adrenocortical carcinoma is typically associated with ACTH-independent Cushing’s — forms of the syndrome in which excessive cortisol production is…

The rare case of a 14-year-old girl who experienced spontaneous remission of Cushing’s disease after pituitary tumor apoplexy has been reported by researchers in South America. Pituitary apoplexy, or PA, is a rare and potentially life-threatening condition caused by bleeding or infarction (cell death due to impaired blood flow)…

An invasive tumor in the thymus turned out to be the cause of a 31-year-old woman’s severe ectopic, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-dependent Cushing’s syndrome, according to a case recently reported in Poland. As initial imaging scans failed to detect the thymus lesion, a tumor in the left adrenal gland was suspected…

Mutations in the USP8 gene are found in 35% of the pituitary corticotroph adenomas that cause Cushing’s disease, and more commonly affect women than men, a review study found. Thus, targeting the gene and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) — whose levels are increased in patients with USP8 mutations…

People with Cushing’s disease are at an increased risk of complications, particularly psychiatric disorders requiring hospitalization, even after the disease-causing tumor has been surgically removed, a study indicates. Its findings “support the need for comprehensive clinical evaluation and tailored interventions for [Cushing’s disease] patients, even post-surgery,” the researchers wrote.

A protein found in tissues that produce and release hormones may be a biomarker to help distinguish Cushing’s disease from adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-dependent ectopic Cushing’s. That’s according to a recent study in Japan that also reported that chromogranin A was higher in people with ACTH-dependent ectopic Cushing’s than those…