Pituitary Treatment

Four types of standard treatment are utilised for a pituitary tumour. These ways are given below:

Operation

Many pituitary tumours are surgically removed using one of the following operations:

Transsphenoidal surgery: It is a type of surgery in which instruments are inserted into a part of the brain through an incision (cut) between the nostrils on the upper lip or at the base of the nose and then through the sphenoid bone (a butterfly-shaped bone).

Endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery: It is a type of surgery in which an endoscope is inserted through an incision in the inside of the nose and then through the sphenoid bone to reach the pituitary gland. An endoscope is a thin tube-shaped instrument with a light and lens for viewing and an instrument for removing tumor tissue.

Craniotomy: It is a surgical method to remove the tumor through an opening made in the skull.

Craniotomy: A hole is made in the skull and a piece of the skull is removed to expose part of the brain.

Radiotherapy

Radiation therapy is a cancer treatment that uses high-energy x-rays or other types of radiation to kill cancer cells or prevent their growth. External radiation therapy uses a machine that sends radiation from outside the body to the cancerous area. Some ways of giving radiation therapy prevent the radiation from damaging nearby healthy tissue.

This type of radiation therapy includes:

Stereotactic radiosurgery: Radiation therapy that uses a rigid frame attached to the skull to hold the head still during radiation therapy. A machine directs a single high dose of radiation directly to the tumour. This procedure does not involve surgery. It is also called stereotactic radiosurgery, radiosurgery and radiation surgery.

Medication

In some cases, medications are given to stop a functioning pituitary tumour from producing too much hormone.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy may be used as palliative therapy in pituitary carcinomas to relieve symptoms and improve the patient's quality of life. Chemotherapy uses drugs that stop cancer cells from growing by killing cells or stopping them from dividing. When chemotherapy is taken by mouth or injected into a vein or muscle, the drugs enter the bloodstream and can reach cancer cells in the body. When chemotherapy is placed directly in the cerebrospinal fluid, in an organ or in a body cavity such as the abdomen, drugs mostly affect cancer cells in those areas The way the chemotherapy is given depends on the type of cancer being treated.