What are the treatments for pituitary tumors

Pituitary tumor is a benign tumor that occurs frequently in young and middle-aged people. Many cases are accompanied by abnormal secretion of pituitary hormones, which are very harmful to the body. Severe cases can cause infertility. There are currently several commonly used treatment methods in clinical practice for pituitary tumors. So, what are the treatments for pituitary tumors? Let’s take a look at the experts’ introduction.

Drug treatment: This type of pituitary tumor treatment is suitable for patients with small tumors that do not affect their visual field. Oral bromocriptine can inhibit the growth of pituitary tumors. It is generally more effective for prolactin-secreting pituitary tumors, but it cannot cure the tumor. (Drug treatment is only effective for some cases. For example, bromocriptine is used to treat PRL adenoma, GH adenoma, ACTH adenoma, somatostatin or estrogen is used to treat GH adenoma, cyproheptadine, metyrapone is used to treat ACTH adenoma, non-functional adenoma and hypopituitarism, and various hormone replacement therapies are used. They are all palliative treatments that can relieve symptoms to varying degrees, but they cannot cure them fundamentally. Symptoms recur after stopping the drug, and the tumor continues to grow.)

Surgical treatment: Indications for surgical treatment are: patients with severe visual impairment, rapid deterioration of visual field, continued deterioration of visual field during or after radiotherapy, and patients with increased intracranial pressure need timely surgical treatment. (The good surgical effect rate of pituitary adenoma is 60-90%, but the recurrence rate is relatively high. Foreign data are 7-35%, and the recurrence rate of simple resection can reach 50%. Its recurrence is related to the following factors: ① Incomplete surgical resection, residual tumor tissue ② Tumor erosive growth, involving the dura mater, cavernous sinus or bone tissue ③ Multiple pituitary microadenomas, ④ Pituitary cell hyperplasia.) Treatment of pituitary tumors is also relatively common.

Radiotherapy: Radiotherapy can be performed for patients who have not yet developed visual impairment, or who have developed visual impairment but it is not serious or whose visual impairment progresses slowly, as well as patients whose pituitary tumors cannot be completely removed during surgery or whose tumors recur after surgery, and whose physical conditions are not suitable for surgery.

The above are some common methods given by experts for treating pituitary tumors. These methods are very useful for the treatment of this disease. However, the physical constitution and condition of each patient are different, so it is still necessary to listen to the doctor's advice and choose appropriate treatment methods to enable patients to stay away from the torture of the disease as soon as possible.