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CASE REPORT article

Front. Endocrinol.

Sec. Neuroendocrine Science

ACTH and CRH secreting pheochromocytoma as a very rare cause of ectopic Cushing syndrome

Provisionally accepted
Barbara BromińskaBarbara Bromińska1*Nadia Sawicka-GutajNadia Sawicka-Gutaj1Ewelina Szczepanek-ParulskaEwelina Szczepanek-Parulska1Małgorzat Lange-RatajczakMałgorzat Lange-Ratajczak2Tomasz WierzbickiTomasz Wierzbicki2Małgorzata Janicka-JedyńskaMałgorzata Janicka-Jedyńska3Rafal CzepczynskiRafal Czepczynski1Marek RuchalaMarek Ruchala1
  • 1Department of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Internal Medicine, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznań, Poland
  • 2Clinical Department of General, Gastroenterological and Endocrine Surgery, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznań, Poland
  • 3Department of Clinical Psychology, Poznań University of Medical Science, Poznań, Greater Poland, Poland

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Ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) syndrome (EAS) represents a rare clinical entity characterized by severe hypercortisolemia. Pheochromocytoma, a neuroendocrine neoplasm originating from chromaffin cells within the adrenal medulla, is itself an uncommon diagnosis. The phenomenon of ectopic hormone production by pheochromocytomas is exceedingly rare, occurring in less than 1% of cases. In most instances, hypercortisolemia associated with pheochromocytoma is attributed to aberrant ACTH secretion. This report presents an exceptional case of EAS caused by a pheochromocytoma exhibiting co-expression of both ACTH and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH).

Keywords: Pheochromocytoma, adrenal gland, ectopic hypercortisolemia, Cushing Syndrome, Catecholamines

Received: 25 Feb 2025; Accepted: 27 Oct 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Bromińska, Sawicka-Gutaj, Szczepanek-Parulska, Lange-Ratajczak, Wierzbicki, Janicka-Jedyńska, Czepczynski and Ruchala. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Barbara Bromińska, barbarabrominska@gmail.com

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material