Many patients present to the hospital with menstrual disorders, headaches, or other causes of concern with head MR suggestive of pituitary tumors.
Patients with suspected pituitary tumors need to be aware of the following: Various pituitary tumors are present in 20% of the population. As long as these tumors are not doing anything bad (no biological function) and are not large (less than 1 cm) and do not compress surrounding tissues (not to the detriment of the surrounding neighborhood), then let the “suspicious tumor” grow in the pituitary gland and leave it untreated.
If the tumor is really doing bad things, for example, the tumor causes lactation, or menstrual disorder, infertility; the tumor causes “gigantism or overproduction of growth hormone”, resulting in thick lips and nose, snoring, thick skin on the back of hands; the tumor causes obesity, red face, purple skin, thin skin, hypertension and diabetes; or the tumor causes hyperthyroidism. diabetes; or the tumor causes hyperthyroidism; then, this tumor should be treated in a way, and it is better to eliminate it.
There are four ways to treat pituitary tumor: surgery, or drug therapy, or radiotherapy, or follow-up observation; many patients need to apply more than one of these treatments successively.
1.Surgery is the most direct method with quick results. For example, growth hormone tumors and ACTH tumors; however, some patients cannot be completely removed and the tumors are prone to recurrence. The smaller the tumor is, the easier it is to remove it cleanly.
2.Medication: The drug bromocriptine is generally preferred for the treatment of prolactinoma. For patients who do not have good results or cannot tolerate the drug, they can choose treatment with Carmecrolim (purchased abroad, Hong Kong or Taobao) or surgery. Growth hormone tumors can be treated with Zanlon, which costs close to 10,000 RMB per month. Patients with medical insurance in Beijing can be reimbursed, but it is not clear whether other regions are covered by medical insurance. Zanlon treatment, which helps to reduce growth hormone levels and shrink tumors, but generally cannot cure tumors radically.
3. Radiation therapy: referred to as radiotherapy, is a way to kill tumor cells by focusing rays. It has therapeutic effect on all kinds of pituitary tumors. It should be noted that radiation not only kills tumor cells, but also normal human cells. As the saying goes, “Killing 10,000 enemies, injuring 8,000 oneself”. The effect of radiotherapy is slow, often 1-2 years before the effect can be seen, and the maximum effect is achieved after 5-10 years of radiotherapy. There are two common methods of radiotherapy: conventional low-dose radiotherapy, and one-time high-dose radiotherapy. For different tumors, different radiotherapy methods can be chosen.
4. For pituitary tumors with less serious consequences, or patients who do not want to have surgery or cannot have surgery, they can be observed and followed up. When the disease further aggravates, then consider choosing the appropriate treatment plan. Patients with pituitary tumors often need lifelong follow-up. Stable patients should be followed up once every 6-12 months.
Regardless of which treatment option is taken, or if the pituitary tumor is so large that it may lead to impairment of anterior pituitary function, the various hormones that are lacking, including thyroid hormones, adrenal hormones and sex hormones, should be replaced intact.