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The application of protons (heavy charged particles) for irradiation of the pituitary body has some essential advantages over other types of teletherapy: insignificant destruction of surrounding tissues, a possibility of a single therapeutic session as well as the absence of post-radiation effects. Proton beam therapy was given to 98 patients with Icenko-Cushing disease aged 15 to 40. Mild cases were treated by proton beam irradiation only while severe cases were managed using proton beam therapy combined with unilateral adrenalectomy or oral administration of ortho-para-DDD. Catamnesis duration varied from 3 to 5 years. In most cases the exposure dose was 80-90 Gy (50-110 Gy). The procedure was well tolerated by all the patients. A dynamic multipolar converting method with 15-20 entrance poles in the left temporal area was employed (with the beam energy of 200 MeV). Stabilization of the course of disease and some clinical improvement were observed in most of the patients 3-4 months after proton beam therapy. In 6-36 months after irradiation 90% of the patients showed normal biochemical indices and the absence of any clinical signs of the disease. Three-five years after treatment, 94% of the patients were in steady remission. A 24-hour ACTH and cortisol normalization pattern was observed in all the patients in parallel with an increase in GH and gonadotropin secretion and a decrease in the prolactin level. Sex function renewal appeared to be the first clinical sign of remission. Young patients aged 15 to 20 with a short duration of disease reached remission faster than patients of the other age groups. Thus the results of proton beam therapy of 98 patients with Icenko-Cushing disease after a follow-up of 3-5 years showed a high efficacy of this type of treatment. The method can be used alone or in combination with unilateral adrenalectomy as well as with oral administration of ortho-para-DDD.

Determination by the radioimmunological method of thyrotropic hormone (TTH), thyroxin and triiodothyronine in the blood serum of patients with Itsenko-Cushing's disease showed thyroxin level to decrease depending on the duration of the disease and the severity of the clinical course of the disease. Triiodothyronine content rose against the background of the elevated TTH content, this indicating the presence of latent hypothyroidism in these patients; one of the causes of the latter can be changed in thyroxin metabolism with the formation of a less active form of triiodothyronine.