Guide To The Types of Pituitary Tumors

Pituitary Carcinoma

Pituitary carcinoma describes when an individual develops an abnormal and malignant tumor in their pituitary gland. Pituitary cancer is an extremely rare occurrence and is typically not discovered until after death. The symptoms caused by pituitary carcinoma are similar to those that occur in benign pituitary tumors. Diagnosis of pituitary carcinomas is challenging because the differences between a malignant and benign pituitary tumor, even under a microscope, are difficult to distinguish. Patients diagnosed with pituitary carcinoma are usually only diagnosed once the malignancy has metastasized beyond the pituitary gland.

Pituitary carcinoma is known to spread into the brain and into regions outside of the brain, including the spinal cord, skull and other nearby bone, lymph nodes, blood vessels, meninges, eyes, lungs, liver, kidneys, heart, pancreas, and ovaries. Treatment for pituitary cancer includes excision surgery combined with radiation therapy to eliminate cancerous cells in the body, alongside any methods used for the treatment of its metastasis sites.