The management of Cushing's disease is complex, with challenges facing clinicians in its early diagnosis and in the provision of an effective treatment. Comorbidities associated with Cushing's disease are include increased total cholesterol and glucose levels, as well as hypertension and weight gain. If diagnosed and treated early, long term effects from these comorbidities can be avoided. There are currently no licensed treatments for Cushing's disease, and clinicians rely on the use of other medications that have shown an effect in lowering cortisol levels in these patients, such as agents that inhibit steroidogenesis or the dopamine agonist bromocriptine. The somatostatin analogue pasireotide, which has a broad spectrum of receptor binding activity and is the first treatment to be developed specifically for the treatment of Cushing's disease, has shown promise in early phase studies. Phase III data will be presented by Professor Annamaria Colao, University of Naples Federico II, Italy, at this year's ENEA meeting in Liege, Belgium.