How pituitary tumors are treated

Different types of treatment are available for patients with pituitary tumors. Some treatments are standard (the currently used treatment), and some are being tested in clinical trials. A treatment clinical trial is a research study meant to help improve current treatments or obtain information on new treatments for patients with cancer. When clinical trials show that a new treatment is better than the standard treatment, the new treatment may become the standard treatment. Patients may want to think about taking part in a clinical trial. Some clinical trials are open only to patients who have not started treatment.

Three kinds of standard treatment are used:

• Surgery (taking out the tumor in an operation).
• Radiation therapy (using high-dose x-rays to kill tumor cells).
• Drug therapy.

Surgery is a common treatment of pituitary tumors. A doctor may remove the tumor using one of the following operations:

• Transsphenoidal surgery removes the tumor through a cut in the nasal passage.
• A craniotomy removes the tumor through a cut in the front of the skull.

Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation for pituitary tumors usually comes from a machine outside the body (external radiation therapy). Clinical trials are testing stereotactic radiation surgery, in which radiation is aimed to the tumor only, with less damage to healthy tissue. A CT scan or MRI is used to find the exact location of the tumor. A rigid head frame is attached to the skull and high-dose radiation is directed to the tumor through openings in the head frame, so only a small amount of normal brain tissue is affected. This procedure does not involve surgery. Radiation therapy may be used alone or in addition to surgery or drug therapy.

Drug therapy is the use of drugs to stop the pituitary gland from making too many hormones.

Treatment in a clinical trial

For some patients, taking part in a clinical trial may be the best treatment choice. Clinical trials are part of the cancer research process. Clinical trials are done to find out if new cancer treatments are safe and effective or better than the standard treatment.

Many of today's standard treatments for cancer are based on earlier clinical trials. Patients who take part in a clinical trial may receive the standard treatment or be among the first to receive a new treatment.

Patients who take part in clinical trials also help improve the way cancer will be treated in the future. Even when clinical trials do not lead to effective new treatments, they often answer important questions and help move research forward.

Some clinical trials only include patients who have not yet received treatment. Other trials test treatments for patients whose cancer has not gotten better. There are also clinical trials that test new ways to stop cancer from recurring (coming back) or reduce the side effects of cancer treatment.

Clinical trials are taking place in many parts of the country. In the following lists of treatments for the different types of pituitary tumors, a link to search results for current clinical trials is included for each section. These have been retrieved from NCI's clinical trials database. For some types of tumors, there may not be any trials listed. Check with your doctor for clinical trials that are not listed here but may be right for you.