Pituitary Tumor – Radiation Treatment Options

Transcript

So while surgery is probably still considered the mainstay of treatment of pituitary Adenomas that need some sort of intervention, there is another category of treatment that has entered into the treatment of pituitary tumors, and that would be radiation. And specifically stereotactic radiation, which is the more precise delivery of radiation to a specified volume of tissue. And the reason that’s become important for pituitary tumors is because sometimes you’ll have hormonally active tumors. So you have these small tumors that are hormonally active and wreaking havoc through the body, and you’ve had a patient who maybe has had prior surgery or another scenario where they’ve had surgery and the tumor, now you almost can’t see. And so, you’re, stuck with, hey, the mass effect of the tumor is gone, but it’s still hormonally active and radiation entered the picture to solve problems like that.