PITUITARY CANCER

Course overview

PITUITARY GLAND TUMORS ARISING FROM THE ANTERIOR PITUITARY GLAND ARE USUALLY BENIGN. RARELY, PITUITARY TUMORS MAY METASTASIZE AND ARE THEN TERMED PITUITARY CARCINOMA. PITUITARY CANCER INCLUDES PITUITARY CARCINOMA AND SYSTEMIC METASTASES TO THE PITUITARY GLAND. SOME HEREDITARY CONDITIONS ARE ALSO RELATED TO AN INCREASED RISK OF PITUITARY TUMORS. FOR EXAMPLE, MULTIPLE ENDOCRINE NEOPLASIAS (MEN)-1 SYNDROME IS OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH PITUITARY ADENOMAS. NO ENVIRONMENTAL OR LIFESTYLE CHANGES HAVE BEEN DIRECTLY LINKED TO THE UNDERLYING ETIOLOGY OF PITUITARY TUMORS, AND THEREFORE THERE ARE NO PREVENTABLE RECOMMENDATIONS AT THIS TIME. THIS ACTIVITY PRESENTS AN OVERVIEW OF PITUITARY CANCER, INCLUDING ITS EPIDEMIOLOGY, CLINICAL PRESENTATION, EVALUATION, AVAILABLE PREDICTIVE MARKERS, CURRENT AND EMERGING TREATMENT OPTIONS AS WELL AS PROGNOSIS.