Pituitary Gland Tumor Information

A pituitary gland tumor is an unfortunate disease caused by malfunctioning of pituitary gland. The pituitary gland is a very important gland located near the brain. It secretes a variety of hormones in our body which control our body functions. It is sometime termed as the ‘master endocrine gland’. This gland has two main lobes; the front lobe and the back lobe. Each lobe produces variety of hormones. The function of these hormones include some of the major, important tasks like growth control in the body, stimulation of egg production for females, milk production for females, and transfer of fat in the blood in our body. This is done so precisely, we cannot imagine our life without this gland.

A pituitary gland tumor comes in to play when its cells change and show unexpected or uncontrolled growth. The phenomenon of the uncontrolled growth is referred to as a tumor in our body. This tumor can be categorized in two parts; non-cancerous and cancerous. In case of a non cancerous pituitary gland tumor, the cells of the gland do show uncontrolled growth, but hardly invade its neighboring tissues. Usually, most pituitary gland tumors fall in this category. In case of a cancerous tumor, the rate of growth of cells is not only uncontrolled but also it affects nearby tissues and even worse, can also spread to other parts of our body. These tumors must not be confused with the brain tumors, as this gland is not a part of our brain.

As a result of the pituitary gland tumor, a patient may suffer from any hormone related disease that is related to pituitary gland. Some of the problems are as follows.

Cushing’s Disease (Cushing’s syndrome): In this pituitary gland tumor, a patient’s body does not supply fat to blood properly and as a result, fat gets accumulated at various places in the body like the back portion of the neck. Other symptoms include excess sweating and thinning of the skin. Sometimes these tumors are really small and difficult for a doctor to identify and diagnose.

Prolactin Syndrome: As this disease is primarily caused by malfunctioning of a hormone responsible for menstruation cycles and milk production in a female body, a female suffering from this syndrome usually observes irregular or missed cycles. Most females, unaware of this disease usually consult a gynecologist thinking that they are pregnant.

Gigantism: This disease may cause irregular growth of body parts. Patient observes excessive growth (height significantly above normal), large hands growth, severe arthritis, uneven eye brows and blurred vision etc.

Some of the pituitary gland tumors can be treated with regular medications while in most cases, surgery or radiotherapy is recommended. The first and most common problem that any patient may face is the problematic vision. This is caused by the growth of cells behind the structure that supports vision.

Treatment of these tumors is primarily done by radiotherapy only. If the disease is in its initial stages and can be controlled by drugs, a patient is prescribed accordingly. Another decision a surgeon takes is to perform surgery to remove the problematic tissues. But in most situations, the decision of surgery is taken at the final stages when the size of the cells grows unexpectedly and the patient remains unaware of the fact for a long time. Patients are treated based on the level of severity of the pituitary gland tumor.