1. Cushing’s Syndrome
By: Laura Brown, Sarah Afiz and
Nick Olson

2. What is Cushing’s
Syndrome?
 Cushing’s syndrome is caused by prolonged
exposure of the bodies’ tissue to high levels
of the hormone cortisol

3. What is Cortisol?
 Cortisol is a hormone secreted by the
adrenal glands
 Helps maintain proper glucose
metabolism, regulation of blood pressure,
insulin released for blood sugar control,
immune function and inflammatory
response
 Most importantly cortisol helps the body
respond to stress (called the “stress
hormone”)

4. Causes of Cushing’s
 Majority of the people who suffer from
Cushing’s syndrome have had prior use
of glucocorticoid hormones
-Glucocorticoid hormones are used to
prevent transplant rejection as well as
treat inflammatory diseases such as
asthma, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus

5. Causes of Cushing’s
(cont.)
Other causes:
 Pituitary Adenomas: tumors of pituitary
gland
 Adrenal gland overgrowth or adrenal
tumors

6. Who’s affected?
 Can affect anyone but the
disease is extremely rare
 Affects 20,000 people in the U.S,
and 10-15 million people
worldwide
 Most commonly occurs in females
ages 25-50

7. Symptoms
 Upper body obesity (rounded face,
increased neck fat)
 Thinning around the arms and legs
 Delayed growth
 Easy bruising of skin
 Purplish-pink stretch marks on the
abdomen, thigh, buttocks, arms, and
breasts

8. Symptoms (cont.)
 High blood sugar, high blood pressure
 Depression and anxiety
 Increased hair growth in women
 Irregular menstrual cycles
 Bones are fragile, susceptible to fractures
easily

10. Treatments
 Depending on the reason for cortisol excess,
treatments include:
1. Surgery (pituitary/ adrenal gland surgery on tumors –
first line approach)
2. Radiation (can take many years to be effective)
3. Chemotherapy
4. Cortisol inhibiting drugs: An example is
-Steroidogenesis inhibitor medications such as
Mitotane (83% of Cushing patients treated with
Mitotane went into remission).

11. New Treatment
 Corcept Therapeutics Inc won U.S.
approval for a drug known as Korlym
that uses the active ingredient of the
abortion pill RU-486

12. Korlym
 Korlym blocks the binding of cortisol to its
receptor
 Korlym inhibits or reduces the effects of
excess cortisol
 Orphan drug status: Given to drugs
discovered for rare diseases. Allows
Corcept to have exclusive rights.

13. Other Facts
 This disease is not inherited
 People who are more prone to developing
tumors are at greater risk
 If the disease is not treated, it can be lethal
 Cushing’s can also lead to heart attacks and
strokes
 70% of patients with Cushing’s suffer from
diabetes.

14. Children with Cushing’s
Syndrome

15. Works Cited