Context: Radiotherapy for patients with acromegaly was considered when patients have residual disease or tumor recurrence after surgery, or when surgery can't be carried out. There are two main modes of radiotherapy, including stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (FSRT). Objective: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to present the effectiveness and safety of SRS and FSRT for GH secreting pituitary adenoma in clinical practice. Methods: We searched the published literature using following databases: Pub Med, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and EMBASE up to March 22, 2020, for studies in which SRS or FSRT were used in patients with GH secreting pituitary. Results: A total of 33 studies were eligible, involving 2016 participants. No significant differences were observed in tumor shrinkage rate, local tumor control rate and adverse effect rate between SRS and FSRT. Compared to FSRT, SRS showed significant increase in biochemical remission rate (43% vs. 28%; p=0.023) and significant lower follow-up GH level (SMD: -1.20 vs. -0.37, p=0.006). Conclusions: SRS and FSRT showed comparable effectiveness and safety in the management of GH secreting pituitary adenoma patients. SRS might be associated with better biochemical remission.
Keywords: Fractionated Stereotactic Radiotherapy; Growth Hormone-Secreting Adenomas; Stereotactic Radio-surgery.