Non-Functioning Pituitary Adenomas

Juliana Beaudette Drummond; Antônio Ribeiro-Oliveira Jr.; Beatriz Santana Soares

Non-Functioning Pituitary Adenomas

Review

In: Endotext [Internet]. South Dartmouth (MA): MDText.com, Inc.; 2000.

2022 Oct 12.

Authors

Juliana Beaudette Drummond¹, Antônio Ribeiro-Oliveira Jr.², Beatriz Santana Soares¹

Book Editors

Kenneth R Feingold¹, Bradley Anawalt², Marc R Blackman³, Alison Boyce⁴, George Chrousos⁵, Emiliano Corpas⁶, Wouter W de Herder⁷, Ketan Dhatariya⁸, Kathleen Dungan⁹, Johannes Hofland¹⁰, Sanjay Kalra¹¹, Gregory Kaltsas¹², Nitin Kapoor¹³, Christian Koch¹⁴, Peter Kopp¹⁵, Márta Korbonits¹⁶, Christopher S Kovacs¹⁷, Wendy Kuohung¹⁸, Blandine Laferrère¹⁹, Miles Levy²⁰, Elizabeth A McGee²¹, Robert McLachlan²², Maria New²³, Jonathan Purnell²⁴, Rakesh Sahay²⁵, Amy S Shah²⁶, Frederick Singer²⁷, Mark A Sperling²⁸, Constantine A Stratakis²⁹, Dace L Trence³⁰, Don P Wilson³¹

Affiliations

¹ Assistant Professor of Medicine. Laboratory of Endocrinology, Endocrinology Department, Hospital of Clinics, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil
² Professor of Medicine. Laboratory of Endocrinology, Endocrinology Department, Hospital of Clinics, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil

Book Affiliations

¹ Professor of Medicine Emeritus, University of California, San Francisco, CA
² Chief of Medicine at the University of Washington Medical Center and Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Medicine, University of Washington
³ Sr. Physician Scientist, Washington DC VA Medical Center; Professor of Medicine & Rehabilitation Medicine, Georgetown University; Clinical Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, George Washington University; and Professor of Medicine (Part-time), Johns Hopkins University
⁴ Pediatric Endocrinologist and Associate Research Physician in the Skeletal Diseases and Mineral Homeostasis Section, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health
⁵ Professor of Pediatrics and Endocrinology, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes, First Department of Pediatrics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Medical School, "Aghia Sophia" Children's Hospital, Athens, Greece
⁶ M.D. Ph.D in Gerontology. Honorary Professor of Medicine, Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid. Consultant in Endocrinology, Hospital HLA Guadalajara (Spain).
⁷ Professor of Endocrine Oncology, Erasmus MC and Erasmus MC Cancer Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
⁸ Consultant in Diabetes, Endocrinology and General Medicine, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
⁹ Professor of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, Ohio State University
¹⁰ Consultant Endocrinologist, Erasmus MC and Erasmus MC Cancer Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
¹¹ Consultant Endocrinologist, Department of Endocrinology, Bharti Hospital, Karnal, India
¹² Professor of General Medicine-Endocrinology, 1st Department of Propaedeutic Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
¹³ Professor of Endocrinology, Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Christian Medical College & Hospital, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Science, The University of Melbourne, Australia.
¹⁴ Professor, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee
¹⁵ Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Metabolism, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
¹⁶ Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Centre Lead for Endocrinology and Deputy Institute Director, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, England
¹⁷ University Research Professor and Professor of Medicine (Endocrinology and Metabolism), Obstetrics & Gynecology, and BioMedical Sciences, at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada.
¹⁸ Director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology at Boston Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Boston University School of Medicine
¹⁹ Professor of Medicine, New York Nutrition Obesity Research Center, Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
²⁰ Consultant endocrinologist at University Hospitals of Leicester and Honorary Associate Professor at Leicester University
²¹ Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Vermont and Director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. Burlington, Vermont
²² Director of Clinical Research, Hudson Institute of Medical Research; Consultant Endocrinologist, Monash Medical Centre, Melbourne, Australia
²³ Professor of Pediatrics, Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, and Chief of the Adrenal Steroid Disorders Program, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY
²⁴ Professor of Medicine, Knight Cardiovascular Institute and the Division of Endocrinology, and Associate Director, Bob and Charlee Moore Institute for Nutrition and Wellness, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR
²⁵ Professor and Head of Department of Endocrinology, Osmania Medical College and Osmania General Hospital, Hyderabad, India.
²⁶ Professor of Pediatrics, The University of Cincinnati, Department of Pediatrics and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Division of Endocrinology, Cincinnati, OH, USA
²⁷ Director of the Endocrine/Bone Disease Program, Saint Johns Cancer Institute at Saint John’s Health Center, Santa Monica, CA; Clinical Professor of Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA
²⁸ Professorial Lecturer, Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. Emeritus Professor and Chair, Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh.
²⁹ CSO, ELPEN, Inc. & Director, Research Institute, Athens, Greece & Senior Investigator, Human Genetics & Precision Medicine, FORTH (ITE), Heraklion, Greece. Emeritus Scientific Director & Senior Investigator, NICHD, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
³⁰ Professor of Medicine, Emeritus, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
³¹ Endowed Chair, Cardiovascular Health and Risk Prevention, Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, Cook Children's Medical Center, Fort Worth, TX

PMID: 30521182
Bookshelf ID: NBK534880

Excerpt

Pituitary adenomas comprise approximately 10-20% of intracranial tumors. Non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) are benign adenohypophyseal tumors not associated with clinical evidence of hormonal hypersecretion. NFPAs comprise different histological subtypes, classified according to their immunostaining to different adenohypophyseal hormones and transcription factors. The silent gonadotroph adenoma is the most common subtype, followed by corticotroph, PIT1 (POU1F1) gene lineage, and null cell tumors. Patients with NFPAs usually come to medical attention as a result of “mass effects” symptoms such as headaches, visual disorders, and/or cranial nerve dysfunction caused by lesions large enough to damage surrounding structures. Hypopituitarism, caused by the compression of the normal anterior pituitary, and hyperprolactinemia due to pituitary stalk deviation can also be present. Some cases may be diagnosed incidentally through imaging studies performed for other purposes. Patients with NFPAs should undergo hormonal, clinical, and laboratory evaluation to rule out hyper and hypopituitarism. Assessment of prolactin and IGF-1 levels have been recommended in all patients whereas screening for cortisol excess is suggested in the presence of clinical symptoms. Impairment of pituitary function should be assessed by baseline hormonal measurements and/or stimulatory tests, if needed. Patients in whom the tumor abuts the optic chiasm should be submitted to visual field perimetry. Surgical resection is the primary treatment for symptomatic patients with NFPAs, i.e., those with neuro-ophthalmologic complaints and/or tumors affecting the optic pathway. Visual deficits and, less commonly, hormone deficiencies may improve following surgical treatment although new hormone deficiencies may also occasionally develop after a surgical approach. For patients with residual NFPAs following transsphenoidal surgery, a therapeutic attempt using cabergoline can be made according to clinical judgment in individual cases. Radiotherapy in the postoperative period is not consensual and is generally reserved for cases of tumors not completely resected by surgery, those cases that present progressive tumor growth during follow-up, or for patients who, at diagnosis, already have tumors with aggressive features. Highly aggressive tumors need special care during follow-up, including temozolomide with or without radiotherapy complementation or new potential emerging treatments. For patients with asymptomatic NFPAs a “watch and wait” option is reasonable. Follow up is individualized and should consider tumor size, prior treatments, and clinical symptoms. For complete coverage of all related areas of Endocrinology, please visit our on-line FREE web-text, WWW.ENDOTEXT.ORG.

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