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CUSHOrg@aol.com Treatment for Cushing's
If Cushing's Syndrome is a side effect of taking high doses of steroid hormones, withdrawing these medicines will allow the body to go back to normal.
Cushing's disease is best treated with the surgical removal of the pituitary tumor, usually by minimally invasive endoscopic surgery (through a nostril) or some physicians still prefer to use the sublabial transsphenoidal resection (cut under the top lip). When pituitary surgery is not successful, radiation such as gamma knife and photon knife radio surgery is sometimes used as a second choice of treatment.
Ectopic ACTH producing tumors are often malignant. Removing this cancer or treating it with radiation or chemotherapy may help in improving the Cushing's Syndrome. If the tumor is benign, or it can be completely removed, surgery may be a cure. Most of the time, reduction of the cortisol production from the adrenals with medication is useful while the ACTH-producing tumor is being treated.
Adrenal adenomas are almost always treated by surgically removing the adrenal gland that the tumor is located on. Adrenal carcinomas can be cured if removed early. Unfortunately, if they have already spread beyond the adrenal gland and are not curable, chemotherapy and other medicines are often used to try to control the tumor but do not cure it.
There are medications available that can be used to treat any form of inoperable or incurable Cushing's, but they can have side effects in some patients and require monitoring. Surgical cure for the primary cause of the Cushing's is always the best, if possible.
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