Does pituitary tumor require surgical treatment?

Many patients are very worried and afraid after being diagnosed with pituitary tumors. They and their family members and friends are very concerned about how to treat pituitary tumors. Pituitary tumors are relatively common benign tumors. People usually think that as long as it is a tumor, surgical treatment may be more effective. So is surgical treatment necessary for the treatment of pituitary tumors? Let's find out together.

Since the pituitary gland grows in the center of the bottom of the brain tissue, and is surrounded by many very important blood vessels and nerves, such as the optic nerve and the basilar cerebral artery, once a tumor grows, its clinical manifestations are also complex and varied. Pituitary tumors, also known as pituitary adenomas, are a type of endocrine system tumor, most of which are slow-growing benign tumors. They usually occur in young and middle-aged people, mostly between the ages of 30 and 60, and are more common in women. Once a pituitary tumor is diagnosed, it can have a great negative impact on the patient's quality of life.

Is it necessary to have surgery if you have a pituitary tumor? The answer is certainly not yes. Pituitary tumors can be treated with a variety of methods such as surgery, drugs and radiotherapy. The treatment is mainly based on the size of the tumor, whether it secretes hormones, and the patient's complications to determine the individualized treatment plan. Usually, small microadenomas without endocrine hormone abnormalities do not necessarily need to be treated. About 97% of pituitary non-functional tumors do not require surgery. If there is no corresponding hyper or hypopituitarism, long-term clinical follow-up can be performed. If corresponding clinical symptoms appear during the follow-up process, the tumor grows faster and compresses the surrounding tissues (such as visual field defects, etc.), minimally invasive transsphenoidal surgery can be considered. For functional tumors such as pituitary prolactin-secreting and growth hormone-secreting tumors, drug treatment is required, but surgery or radiotherapy is not necessarily required. About 80% of prolactin-secreting pituitary tumors require drug treatment. A considerable number of patients with acromegaly have residual preoperative or postoperative symptoms and need to be treated with somatostatin drugs.

Pituitary adenoma (abbreviated as pituitary tumor) is one of the most common tumors in the brain. Because the tumor is located deep in the brain and the endocrine center, it exerts pressure on the surrounding area and affects the endocrine system, often causing serious damage to the patient's growth, development, reproductive function, and ability to work. Although pituitary tumors are benign tumors, it is difficult to achieve complete cure by relying on only one method due to insufficient knowledge of the disease.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and endocrine hormone testing are important means to improve the early diagnosis of pituitary tumors. All patients with pituitary tumors should be fully evaluated and followed up throughout their lives. Many patients think that everything will be fine after surgery, but regardless of whether surgery or radiotherapy is performed, regular long-term follow-up is necessary to re-evaluate the level of pituitary hormone function, and re-examine the sellar region MRI when necessary to monitor the recurrence and growth of the tumor.

Through the above introduction, I hope that all patients with pituitary tumors can choose the treatment method that suits them and wish them a speedy recovery.