Frontiers in Endocrinology (Mar 2021)

Multimodal Non-Surgical Treatments of Aggressive Pituitary Tumors

  • Tae Nakano-Tateno,
  • Kheng Joe Lau,
  • Justin Wang,
  • Cailin McMahon,
  • Yasuhiko Kawakami,
  • Yasuhiko Kawakami,
  • Toru Tateno,
  • Takako Araki

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2021.624686
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12

Abstract

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Up to 35% of aggressive pituitary tumors recur and significantly affect mortality and quality of life. Management can be challenging and often requires multimodal treatment. Current treatment options, including surgery, conventional medical therapies such as dopamine agonists, somatostatin receptor agonists and radiotherapy, often fail to inhibit pituitary tumor growth. Recently, anti-tumor effects of chemotherapeutic drugs such as Temozolomide, Capecitabine, and Everolimus, as well as peptide receptor radionuclide therapy on aggressive pituitary tumors have been increasingly investigated and yield mixed, although sometimes promising, outcomes. The purpose of this review is to provide thorough information on non-surgical medical therapies and their efficacies and used protocols for aggressive pituitary adenomas from pre-clinical level to clinical use.

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