What are the basic knowledge about pituitary tumors

Although pituitary diseases are not very common, they are not uncommon. Pituitary tumors are generally divided into functional and non-functional pituitary tumors. Many patients go to the hospital for treatment due to some physical discomfort. If they are diagnosed with pituitary tumors, they will be very worried. Then they should understand some basic knowledge about pituitary tumors. The following is the common knowledge of pituitary tumors.

Among the population, 20% of patients have various pituitary tumors. As long as these tumors do not do harm (have no biological function), are not large (less than 1 cm), and do not compress surrounding tissues (do not harm the interests of surrounding neighbors), then this "suspicious tumor" can be left to grow in the pituitary without treatment.

If the tumor is indeed doing bad things, for example, the tumor causes milk secretion, or menstrual disorders, infertility; the tumor causes "gigantism or excessive secretion of growth hormone", leading to thick lips and nose, snoring during sleep, and thick skin on the back of the hands; the tumor causes obesity, round and red face, purple skin lines, thin skin, high blood pressure and diabetes; or the tumor causes hyperthyroidism; then, this tumor should be treated in a way, and it is best to eliminate it.

There are four ways to treat pituitary tumors: surgery, medication, radiotherapy, or follow-up observation; many patients need to use more than one of these treatments in succession.

1. Surgery is the most direct method with quick results. For example, growth hormone tumors and ACTH tumors; however, some patients cannot completely remove the tumors, and the tumors are prone to recurrence. The smaller the tumor, the easier it is to remove it completely.

2. Drug treatment: Bromocriptine is generally the first choice for prolactinoma. For patients who do not respond well or cannot tolerate the drug, cabergoline or surgery can be chosen. Growth hormone tumors can be treated with Sanlong, which costs nearly 10,000 yuan per month. Beijing medical insurance patients can be reimbursed, but it is unclear whether other regions are covered by medical insurance. Sanlong treatment helps to reduce growth hormone levels and shrink tumors, but it generally cannot cure tumors.

3. Radiotherapy: Radiotherapy for short, is a way to kill tumor cells by focusing radiation. It has a therapeutic effect on various pituitary tumors. It should be noted that radiation not only kills tumor cells, but also normal human cells. The so-called "killing ten thousand enemies will hurt eight thousand of your own." Radiotherapy takes a long time to take effect, and the effect can often be seen after 1-2 years, and the maximum effect is achieved after 5-10 years of radiotherapy. There are two commonly used methods of radiotherapy: conventional low-dose radiotherapy (radiotherapy is performed in 20-25 times, each radiation dose is 200cGy, and the total dose can reach 4000-5000cGy), and one-time high-dose radiotherapy (gamma knife, one-time radiotherapy for the lesion, the dose is 3000-5000cGy). Different radiotherapy methods can be selected for different tumors.

4. For patients with pituitary tumors with minor consequences, or who are unwilling to undergo surgery, or who cannot undergo surgery, follow-up observation can be performed. When the condition worsens further, appropriate treatment options can be considered. Patients with pituitary tumors often require lifelong follow-up. For stable patients, follow-up is performed every 6-12 months.

Regardless of which treatment plan is adopted, or if the pituitary tumor is too large, it may cause damage to the anterior pituitary function, and the various deficient hormones, including thyroid hormones, adrenal hormones and sex hormones, should be fully replenished.