Korean J Med.  1997 Nov;53(5):694-698.

A Case of Cushing's Syndrome Associated with Ectopic ACTH Production in Patient with Small: cell Lung Cancer

• Kim KH
• Woo IS
• Cho ST
• Park MJ
• Yu JM
• Park YI
• Chi JG

Abstract

About 5% of patients with SCLC have the ectopic production of ACTH. Ectopic ACTH production of SCLC is suspected when patients of SCLC have unexplained metabolic alkalosis and hypokalemia. Most patients lack the classic feature of Cushing's syndrome. According to the recent report, they have poor prognosis, which median survival is less than 4 months and associated with a high rate of complication during chemotherapy. Also a case of paraneoplastic CRH production with SCLC can mimic the ectopic ACTH syndrome hut it can be distinguished by immunohistochemistry or direct measurement of serum CRH level. We report here a case of small cell lung cancer associated with Cushing's syndrome of ectopic ACTH production. That is immunohistochemically provened by staining with ACTH.

Keyword

Small cell lung cancer; Ectopic ACTH production; ACTH stain

MeSH Terms

ACTH Syndrome, Ectopic
Adrenocorticotropic Hormone*
Alkalosis
Cushing Syndrome*
Drug Therapy
Humans
Hypokalemia
Immunohistochemistry
Lung Neoplasms*
Lung*
Prognosis
Small Cell Lung Carcinoma
Adrenocorticotropic Hormone