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Frequently Asked Questions

What are other pituitary diseases that can be mistaken for pituitary tumors?

Pituitary Society - Public Site - Information about the pitu...
Pituitary Cyst : Any endocrine gland may develop a cyst. This occurs commonly in the ovaries and thyroid gland; a cyst in the pituitary gland is benign (not cancer). Many pituitary cysts cause no symptoms and don’t grow or enlarge. Only when they do, do they become symptomatic. They can cause headache and/or rarely interfere with normal pituitary function. If the cyst is large, loss of vision may occur.

What are pituitary tumors?

Frequently Asked Questions about Pituitary Cancer
A pituitary tumor is a tumor that begins in the pituitary gland. Most pituitary tumors are not cancer. In fact, cancerous pituitary tumors are so rare that state and national cancer agencies keep no record of how many people get them each year. Benign (non-cancerous) pituitary tumors are also rare. About 3,000 people get them each year.

What are the symptoms of pituitary tumors?

Frequently Asked Questions about Pituitary Cancer
Pituitary tumors that affect hormones may cause a variety of symptoms, which are related to high hormone levels and production. These symptoms will be different in children than in adults. Growth hormone-secreting adenomas in children may cause: Other more rare kinds of pituitary tumors cause other symptoms. It is important for anyone who is experiencing any unusual symptoms to see their doctor.

How are pituitary tumors treated?

Frequently Asked Questions about Pituitary Cancer
In most cases, pituitary tumors are treated by surgery, radiation therapy, or by using drugs that block the tumor's ability to produce hormones. Surgery: The goal of surgery is to remove the entire tumor from the pituitary gland. This is possible with most microadenomas but may be less likely with macroadenomas. Sometimes the entire pituitary gland will have to be removed. Medications can provide the hormones that the pituitary gland used to produce.

What are the risk factors for pituitary tumors?

Frequently Asked Questions about Pituitary Cancer
Certain factors can make one person more likely to get a pituitary tumor than another person. These are called risk factors. In some cancers, doctors have identified risk factors that can be avoided, such as smoking or sun exposure. With pituitary tumors, doctors are not sure what exactly causes pituitary tumors and only one risk factor has been identified. Most people who get a pituitary tumor have no known risk factors.

What are the symptoms of the various types of pituitary tumors?

Hi. I'm a nursing student and I recently had a male patient, 64 yrs. old, who is diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitus type 1, obesity, hypertension, a right below-the-knee amputation due to osteomyelitis, depression, chronic renal insufficiency, and a few other things, including poor wound healing. He has the typical Cushing's body type and the buffalo hump. He has no striae on his abdomen.

Do pituitary tumors spread to other parts of the body, like so many other tumors?

Endocrinology - FAQ
No, pituitary tumors are usually benign. They grow very slowly and do not spread to other parts of the body.

Can pituitary tumors be prevented through diet and exercise?

Endocrinology - FAQ
No, these tumors are caused by an abnormality in the genetic material of the pituitary cell, which causes the cells to continue growing and dividing.

What is the goal for Medical Treatment in Pituitary Tumors?

Any medical therapy for a pituitary tumor should reduce hormone overproduction by the tumor, and, ideally, decrease the size of the pituitary tumor so that any visual abnormality is corrected. Reduction in tumor size should improve or relieve headache associated with the tumor.

What is the pituitary gland?

Frequently Asked Questions about Pituitary Cancer
The pituitary gland is a small gland located behind the nasal sinuses and above the roof of the mouth at the base of the skull. It is connected to the hypothalamus, a part of the brain. Together, the two control the production of many of the important hormones in the body. The pituitary gland sits in a tight bony space and has little room to grow or expand when swollen or if there is a tumor.

Is this something associated with the damage to my pituitary gland?

Frequently Asked Questions-Page 4
CDI itself does not interfere with menstruation or fertility. However, it may be associated with these or other problems if the disease or injury that caused the DI also damages adjacent parts of the brain or pituitary where other hormones are normally produced. Head trauma is one of the things that can cause this kind of collateral damage, but it does not always do so. Therefore, each patient with CDI must be evaluated separately to determine if any of the other hormones have been affected.

What about neuroendocrine (islet cell tumors)?

Pancreatic Cancer: Pancreatica - FAQ
Neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas (islet cell tumors) are much less common than tumors arising from the exocrine pancreas. Reports often indicate that there are about two to three thousand cases diagnosed in the U.S. each year - although autopsy indicates that there may be a higher incidence of these islet cell tumors than are diagnosed. About 75% of these tumors are "functioning.

Are all tumors immortal?

FAQ
understanding of the molecular details of the relationship between cellular senescence and cancer has begun to emerge. Cells probably need to accumulate at least 4-6 mutations to become tumorigenic, and each mutation likely requires an expansion of the mutant clone to at least a million cells (20 doublings) before there are a sufficient number of cells in which the next mutation could occur.

How many types of brain tumors are there?

Johns Hopkins Surgical Neuropathology: Frequently Asked Ques...
Even though it seems as if there are two types of brain tumors, benign and malignant, there are close to one hundred tumor types. Furthermore one can divide brain tumors into primary and metastatic types. The primary brain tumors arise from the cells that make up the brain and spinal cord or the tissues covering the brain. The metastatic tumors spread from another body site to the brain, and by definition, are always malignant.

How are conjunctival tumors treated?

Frequently Asked Questions about Eye Cancer
The primary treatment for these tumors is surgery. It is important for the doctor to keep checking for cancer cells left behind. The surgery ends when all cancer cells have been removed. This is called perioperative microscopic examination of surgical margins. If the tumor is large, cryotherapy (freezing of the tumor) may be needed. Researchers are also studying the use of chemotherapy eye drops for people who have conjunctival melanoma (and have tumors in several places on the eye).

How are tumors in the iris treated?

Frequently Asked Questions about Eye Cancer
These are rare tumors. They can be either primary tumors of the iris (e.g. malignant melanoma) or spread from another tumor (e.g. breast, lung). Treatment of these tumors depends on whether the tumor is growing and also whether there is any complication from the tumor (e.g. uncontrolled glaucoma). In the case of glaucoma that does not get better with medication, or if the tumor is growing quickly, it may be necessary to remove the entire eye.

How are choroidal tumors treated?

Frequently Asked Questions about Eye Cancer
Melanomas. The treatment for choroidal melanomas can include thermal destruction (cryotherapy or photocoagulation), radiation, local resection or complete removal of the eye, or no treatment at all (observation alone). The choice depends on the size of the tumor, on whether or not it is growing, and whether or not the person is having symptoms. All these options should be discussed in depth with the doctor, weighing all the risks and benefits of each choice. Nevus.

What are recurrent tumors?

Brain Tumor FAQ
Recurrent tumors grow back after being removed or stabilized. Recurrence commonly occurs in the same area as the original tumor, but may develop in another part of the brain or spinal cord. Both benign and malignant brain tumors can recur after initial treatment. A brain tumor that has been treated with radiation or chemotherapy may disappear or remain in remission, a state in which the tumor cells stop multiplying. Remission can be temporary or permanent.

ARE THERE CORRELATIONS WITH OTHER DISEASES?

QTsyndrome.ch - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Recent research suggests that a prolonged QT-interval could be an important cause for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Mutations in the KCNJ2 gene are associated with Andersen syndrome (AS). AS is a rare, inherited disorder characterized by periodic paralysis, skeletal developmental abnormalities and a prolonged QT-interval (see point 2) with ventricular arrhythmias. Because of the prolongation of the QT-interval, AS is considered a subtype of long QT syndrome.
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