Pituitary Tumor Center

Pituitary adenomas are the most common type of pituitary tumor. They cause a variety of disorders including acromegaly (excess growth hormone), Cushing's disease (excess adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)), elevated prolactin (prolactinoma), and rarely elevated thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). Craniopharyngiomas and Rathke's cleft cysts are other lesions that arise in the pituitary.

The treatment of tumors at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center (WFBMC) is a collaborative effort between the Departments of Neurosurgery, Radiation Oncology, and the Endocrinology and Neuro-ophthalmology Sections. Quality of life is further enhanced by the participation of members of the Department of Otolaryngology and the Neuroradiology and Neuropathology Sections when appropriate.

Surgical treatments including transsphenoidal surgery and stereotactic radiosurgery (Gamma Knife^®) are special areas of expertise in the Pituitary Tumor Center. Members of the Center are also pioneers in delivering fractionated radiation to pituitary tumors using 3-D treatment planning; this minimizes the radiation dose to normal brain and nerves. In addition, medical management often serves as the primary line of therapy for prolactinomas and is increasingly important in the treatment of acromegaly.

Pituitary Research

Wake Forest School of Medicine has an outstanding research program in diseases of the pituitary gland. Focuses include understanding the development of the pituitary during fetal growth (crucial to eventual pituitary replacement/transplantation therapy), the role of growth hormone in aging, and the cause(s) of pituitary adenomas.

Both basic laboratory research and clinical research on pituitary diseases are emphasized.

Learn more about clinical trials at WFBMC.