Abstract
External beam radiotherapy is an essential component of treatment of patients with benign skull base tumors. Radiotherapy is generally used in patients with residual or recurrent pituitary adenomas following surgery, with the aim of preventing tumor regrowth and normalizing elevated hormone levels. It is successful in achieving tumor control in up to 90–95 % of patients at 10 years, though excess hormone secretion may take some time to subside. However, despite the evidence that radiation reduces the rate of local recurrence and the low risk of toxicity when the treatment is delivered within the radiation tolerance limits of central nervous system, the role of postoperative radiation for these tumors is debated.
Keywords
- Pituitary Adenoma
- Acromegalic Patient
- Urinary Free Cortisol
- Biochemical Remission
- Nonfunctioning Pituitary Adenoma
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Minniti, G., Scaringi, C. (2016). Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery. In: Cappabianca, P., Cavallo, L., de Divitiis, O., Esposito, F. (eds) Midline Skull Base Surgery. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21533-4_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21533-4_4
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