The “pituitary gland” in the brain is the general headquarters of the human neuroendocrine system, while “pituitary adenoma” is a benign tumor of the pituitary gland itself, and so far only a few cases have been reported worldwide as malignant lesions. The majority of patients with pituitary adenomas are benign tumors or other lesions of the pituitary gland.
Clinically, we divide pituitary adenomas into two categories: one type of pituitary adenoma has a hormone-secreting function and is still “hard at work” for the body like a hard worker, producing a constant flow of all kinds of hormones necessary for the body – only it is so hard-working that it produces too many hormones and thus has an impact on the body. It produces too many hormones and thus has an adverse effect on our body. For example, the most common hormone is prolactinoma, which can cause irregular menstrual cycles and even amenorrhea in women, failure to conceive in young women, and abnormal breast milk production during non-lactation periods; osteoporosis in older women, and loss of libido and sexual dysfunction in men. The clinical treatment is divided into medication and surgery. Since there are now specific medications for prolactinomas, most patients with prolactin adenomas are treated by endocrinologists who specialize in pituitary function disorders and rarely require surgery. However, there are some functional adenomas that require aggressive surgical treatment, and these pituitary adenomas often cause acromegaly and Cushing’s disease in patients. “Acromegaly (or “gigantism” in childhood onset) is caused by “overactive” growth hormone-secreting cells in the pituitary gland, which produce large amounts of growth hormone, causing the patient to Cushing’s disease is the same, because the pituitary gland overproduces adrenal hormone, which acts on the patient’s adrenal glands and then causes excessive secretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone, resulting in “full moon face”, “buffalo back”, and “centripetal obesity”. This causes symptoms such as “full moon face”, “buffalo back” and “centripetal obesity”. For this type of pituitary adenoma, after surgical removal, the hormone level in most patients can be restored to normal and the symptoms can be relieved.
The other type of pituitary adenoma does not secrete hormones, which is called “pituitary non-functional adenoma”. It is like a lazy man who just keeps on “getting fat” but does not work and does not produce any hormones that are useful to the human body. But this “fat pituitary gland” is so fat that it is compressing our normal pituitary tissue. Compression of normal pituitary tissue causes dysfunction, resulting in a decrease in normal hormone production, so unlike functional pituitary adenomas, which are “too diligent”, this pituitary gland can be in a hypofunctional state. In addition, continued enlargement of the tumor can compress the normal structures surrounding the pituitary gland (occupying effect), which can lead to symptoms such as headaches and visual field defects. Therefore, although pituitary adenomas are small, they are not less harmful and require clinical intervention. For tumor types that cannot be controlled by drugs, the tumor can be surgically removed to relieve the compression of the surrounding tissues and relieve the symptoms.