An acne breakout could be a sign of a rare type of cancer that plays havoc with your hormones.
Pituitary gland cancer affects around 100 people a year, and happens when a cancerous tumour grows on the tiny nodule at the base of the brain that is crucial to controlling the production of hormones.
The disease can cause hormone levels to become erratic, resulting in a range of symptoms usually linked to puberty, including an outbreak of unsightly spots.
Now, a skin health expert has taken to social media to warn about the disease, and the multiple hormone-related problems that could be potential signs.
In clip viewed over 2million times on TikTok Dr Mehss from Turkey wrote: ‘Pituitary tumours can cause various skin symptoms like thickened skin, hyperpigmentation, acne, hirsutism [excess hair], and dry skin, due to hormonal imbalances.’
While these tumours can be cancerous, benign tumours in the pituitary gland can also cause these type of breakouts as well as other health problems.
The vast majority of pituitary gland tumours are benign — with around 10,000 diagnosed a year.
These growths cannot spread to other parts of the body like cancerous ones.
However, if it is cancerous, it can be deadly, with data suggesting about three out of five patients die within a decade of their diagnosis.
An acne breakout could be sign of rare cancer playing havoc with your hormones a medic has warned
The link between spots and the pituitary gland lies in the fact that pituitary tumour produces excess levels of a ‘stress hormone’ called cortisol.
Too much cortisol can lead to acne as it causes glands in the skin to produce excess oil leading to the emergence of spots.
Other bizarre problems can also be attributed to a pituitary gland tumour depending on the type of hormones the growth produces.
This includes suddenly expressing breastmilk without being pregnant or nursing, excess hair growth around the chin in women, and abnormally large hands and feet due to excess growth hormone.
Not all pituitary gland tumours produce hormones, but even these can still cause problems.
A growing tumour in that area of the body can press on nerves connected to the eyes potentially causing vision problems or headaches.
Some social media users responding to the clip were dismayed at the broad range of symptoms the tumours could potentially cause.
‘Thanks for describing me,’ one wrote.
‘I literally have all of these symptoms,’ said another.
However, in many cases pituitary gland tumours don’t cause problems and are found incidentally by medics performing another test like a scan.
Studies performed on dead bodies even suggest about between a third and a quarter of people may have small pituitary tumours without ever knowing it.
Charity Cancer Research UK estimates about 17 per cent of brain tumours diagnosed in the UK develop in the pituitary gland.
Treatment for problematic pituitary gland tumours typically involves surgery to remove as much of the growth as possible followed by radiotherapy to kill any remaining tumour cells.
Some pituitary gland tumours can also be treated with drugs that help reduce the excess levels of hormones they can produce.
Some patients will need to take artificial hormones to compensate for lower levels produced by a malfunctioning pituitary gland, as well as ongoing surveillance to check a tumour doesn’t return.
What causes most pituitary gland tumours to develop isn’t clear but there is some evidence to suggest the problem can run in families.
