We are often asked by patients whether medications can treat or even cure pituitary tumors. Pituitary tumor as a tumor of endocrine glands, patients often visit gynecology, obstetrics, Chinese medicine, endocrinology, and mammography for symptoms such as irregular menstruation, infertility, and breast overflow. The above mentioned departments will sometimes give patients medication. So, what kind of patients are suitable for medication, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each of medication and surgery? First of all, pituitary tumors can be divided into various types according to the different hormones they abnormally secrete. Among them, only the prolactin type and the growth hormone type are effective for drug treatment, while the prolactin type is more effective. Therefore, patients who are found to have pituitary tumors should first determine the treatment plan based on the hormone test results. I. For patients with prolactinomatous pituitary tumors, bromocriptine is effective in most patients (75%), reducing the size of the tumor, lowering or even restoring normal prolactin levels, and restoring menstruation. However, there are some patients who do not respond to bromocriptine. In addition, another drawback of drug therapy is that when the drug is discontinued, prolactin gradually increases and the tumor enlarges again to its pre-treatment state, which means that drug therapy for prolactin adenoma requires a lifetime of medication. The patient’s tumor size, elevated prolactin levels, visual field changes, fertility requirements, and systemic status will all influence the choice of treatment plan. To summarize: 1. For small prolactinomas less than 1 cm, the effect of drug therapy is similar to that of surgery. The main side effects are nausea, headache, fatigue, postural hypotension, and depression. It can be taken at bedtime to reduce the effect of appealing side effects. 2. If the tumor does not respond to bromocriptine or the patient cannot tolerate the side effects of the drug, surgery is the only option. 3. If the patient has pituitary stroke, intra-magnetic resonance shows intra-tumoral hemorrhage, and there is significant recent deterioration of vision, surgery should be performed as soon as possible. 4. If the macroadenoma is accompanied by obvious cystic changes, surgery should be chosen. 5. If the tumor is huge and invasive, a comprehensive treatment plan of surgery, medicine and radiotherapy should be adopted. 6. During pregnancy, the tumor growth is often stimulated, if a macroadenoma is found and there is a requirement for childbirth, the tumor should be removed surgically in advance. 7. For some patients with unclear nature of lesions or doubtful diagnosis, surgical treatment can be chosen to obtain pathological diagnosis. Second, for patients with growth hormone adenoma, surgical treatment can rapidly reduce hormone levels because this type of patient is mostly associated with hypertension, diabetes, and cardiac disorders. Surgery is therefore the treatment of choice for growth hormone pituitary tumors. For patients who are not cured by surgery, have contraindications that prevent them from tolerating surgery, or have recurrence after surgery, medications can be considered. There are three main types of drugs: 1. Growth inhibitors, such as octreotide and lanreotide, can reduce the growth hormone level in 71% of patients, normalize the growth hormone level in 50% of patients, and reduce the tumor size in 30% of patients. The main side effects include reduced gastrointestinal activity and secretion, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and gallstone disease (20%). 2. Dopamine agonists: bromocriptine, which can normalize the growth hormone level in 20% of patients and reduce the tumor size in 30% of patients. 3. Growth hormone receptor antagonist: Pevisomant, which can normalize IGF-1 level in 97% of patients after 12 months of treatment. However, there is little change in tumor volume. The drug needs to be injected subcutaneously. In addition, growth inhibitors and growth hormone receptor antagonists are more expensive, and drug therapy requires long-term medication, which is a great financial burden for patients. Finally, it should be noted that pituitary tumor treatment requires individualized planning. Please discuss with your medical professional to make the most suitable treatment choice based on factors such as age, whether you have fertility requirements, your acceptance of lifelong medication and its side effects and surgery, specific hormone elevation levels, tumor size and growth pattern, and the patient’s general health status.