Treatment of Functioning Pituitary Tumors

Patients with functioning or hormone-secreting tumors generally require immediate relief of their symptoms, which may include hypertension and diabetes. Microsurgery is usually used as the primary treatment.

When a functioning tumor is incompletely removed or recurs, further treatment is imperative. The residual tumor is usually small and can often be visualized on an MRI.

Gamma Knife radiosurgery is ideally suited for this type of situation. With high-quality imaging and complex treatment planning using sophisticated mapping capabilities, a very high dose of radiation can be delivered to the tumor while limiting the visual nerves to a very low dose, generally less than 8 Gy.

When the tumor can be separated from the normal gland on the MRI, the risk of hypopituitarism (loss of normal pituitary hormone function) is significantly lower than with fractionated radiotherapy. With Gamma Knife radiosurgery, the elevated hormone levels generally decrease within six to 12 months, usually faster than with fractionated radiotherapy. Depending on the type of tumor, hormone secretion returns to normal in 50 to 90 percent of cases.

While Gamma Knife radiosurgery can be utilized as either the primary or secondary treatment for pituitary tumors, it is generally reserved as second-line therapy after residual or recurrent tumor is noted. However, consideration has been given to a clinical trial looking at microsurgery versus Gamma Knife radiosurgery as the primary treatment of functioning pituitary tumors.

For more information, please contact:

Rebecca O. Heitkam, RN, BSN, CCRN, coordinator
Gamma Knife Center
Saint Joseph's Hospital
404-851-5513
or toll free at 1-866-SJGAMMA

or email
rheitkam@sjha.org