Brain Tumor Program

People with pituitary tumors who receive care in the Mayo Clinic Brain Tumor Program are treated by internationally respected doctors who specialize in this type of brain tumor. They use the latest technology and techniques to develop a treatment plan tailored to each situation.

Innovation in diagnosis and treatment

To arrive at a diagnosis, your doctor may have you visit the clinic's endocrine testing center, where you may undergo complex hormonal stimulation and suppression tests to define the nature of the pituitary tumor and how well the pituitary gland functions.

Your treatment for pituitary tumors may include:

• Endoscopic through-the-nose (transnasal) surgical tumor removal. Mayo Clinic was among the first institutions to extensively research this technique, which is now widely used to treat pituitary tumors. When performed by doctors experienced with this method, it has proved to be highly successful and usually reduces the length of the hospital stay and the level of discomfort.
• Stereotactic radiosurgery (Gamma Knife and linear accelerator based).
• Fractionated radiation therapy.
• Proton therapy. Proton therapy delivers precise radiation doses to the tumor and protects nearby healthy tissue. This is because proton beams, unlike X-rays, do not travel beyond the tumor. Mayo Clinic's Proton Beam Therapy Program has treatment facilities at the clinic's campuses in Arizona and Minnesota.
• Medical management of hormone-producing pituitary tumors.
• Pituitary hormone replacement therapy.

Your treatment team

Your care is coordinated by an endocrinologist with expertise in pituitary disease. Your team may include a neurosurgeon, a neuro-ophthalmologist, a neuroradiologist, a head and neck surgeon, a radiation oncologist, and others as needed. Together they work with you to develop an individualized treatment plan.

See physician staff