How long can a person live with a pituitary tumor? How should a person with a pituitary tumor be treated?

How long can a person with a pituitary tumor live? Brain diseases have always been the most important thing for people, because the brain is the headquarters of our body. Once there is a problem in this part, the consequences are disastrous. Pituitary tumors are usually common in young and middle-aged people, which has a great impact on the patient's marriage, childbearing, work, etc., so timely treatment is needed. So, how long can a person with a pituitary tumor live?

The survival period of patients with pituitary tumors depends on the severity of the patient's symptoms, the success rate of surgical removal of the tumor, postoperative treatment, etc. Everyone is different, so it is impossible to give an accurate answer. The current treatment method for pituitary tumors is comprehensive treatment, including surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, etc.

Because there is no one method that can achieve the goal of complete cure, various treatment methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. An individualized treatment plan should be formulated based on the size of the patient's pituitary tumor, hormone secretion, complications and comorbidities, the patient's age, whether there is a desire to have children, and the patient's financial situation. The treatment of pituitary tumors is a comprehensive treatment process involving multiple departments.

Since pituitary tumors are adenomas, they have poor sensitivity to radiotherapy. After radiotherapy, 70% to 80% of patients experience decreased pituitary function, which reduces their quality of life. Therefore, radiotherapy is only suitable for patients with surgical residuals, cannot tolerate surgery, are insensitive to drugs, or have comorbidities that prevent them from undergoing surgery or drug treatment.

At present, the treatment of pituitary tumors is still mainly surgery, supplemented by drug therapy and radiotherapy. Pituitary tumors are located in the sellar region, surrounded by important neural structures such as the optic nerve, internal carotid artery, and hypothalamus, so surgery still has certain risks. The current surgical methods include transsphenoidal, craniotomy, and gamma knife. Tumors with a diameter greater than 3 cm and adhesion to the optic nerve or visual impairment can be treated surgically first. The surgery must achieve sufficient decompression of the optic nerve, and then gamma knife treatment can be performed after surgery. However, recurrence is still possible after surgery, so regular follow-up is required.

According to the different needs of patients, a personalized treatment plan is developed. Ultimately, the patient's tumor can be removed, and during lifelong follow-up, the recurrence of the tumor can be avoided, the patient's pituitary function can be preserved as much as possible, the elevated secreted hormones can be reduced to the normal range, and the reduced pituitary hormones can be replaced to the normal range that matches the age, thereby improving the patient's quality of life and prolonging the patient's life.