Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Findings from a recent study indicate that patients who have received treatment for a pituitary tumor use less effective coping strategies and have a poorer quality of life than healthy control individuals. Targeted intervention could encourage these patients to use different coping strategies and thus improve their quality of life.
Rapid advances in genotyping technology coupled with the vast success of genome-wide association studies have raised hope and expectations that genetic testing will pave the way to personalized medicine. But do personal genome profiles motivate people to change their lifestyle? Or do they merely increase anxiety?
A systematic review and meta-analysis by Dos Santos Nunes et al. has compared the benefits and risks of cabergoline versus bromocriptine for the treatment of patients with hyperprolactinemia. This analysis confirms previous reports that cabergoline is more efficacious and better tolerated than bromocriptine.
Mutations in genes encoding transcription factors that control pituitary development cause early-onset pituitary hormone deficiencies. Now, circulating antibodies against one such factor, PIT1, have been identified as being responsible for hormone deficits and pituitary cell loss similar to those caused by mutations of its gene POU1F1 but with a late onset.
Pituitary tumors arising from differentiated hormone-expressing cells are commonly encountered, are mostly sporadic and are invariably benign. Improved understanding of the mechanisms that underlie pituitary tumorigenesis will enable development of tumor aggression markers as well as novel targeted therapies. This Review describes these mechanisms, which result in cell cycle dysregulation, signaling defects or loss of tumor suppressor factors.
This Review summarizes the data on medical treatment of patients with prolactinomas. In particular, the authors focus on previous findings of an association between cardiac valve disease and treatment with dopamine agonists in patients with hyperprolactinemia and on the possibility that permanent control of prolactin levels can be achieved after withdrawal from these drugs.
Transsphenoidal surgery leads to remission in 70–90% of patients with Cushing disease. However, the risk of recurrence could reach 20–25% at 10 years after surgery. This Review summarizes data on the efficacy and safety of established therapies for patients with Cushing disease and highlights agents that are being investigated as possible future therapies for patients with this condition.
Acromegaly is a rare condition, which is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, both of which can be reduced with appropriate therapy. This Review discusses the evidence for the current medical management of patients with acromegaly and outlines possible future pharmacological therapies for this patient group.
Clinical advances have made pregnancy increasingly possible for many women with pituitary adenomas. However, this achievement has been accompanied by a considerable risk to both mother and fetus. This article reviews the achievements in fertility restoration and gestational and postgestational management of patients with pituitary tumors and will point out strategies to improve both efficacy and safety of the described procedures.
