Prognosis and survival for pituitary gland cancer
A prognosis is the doctor’s best estimate of how cancer will affect you and how it will respond to treatment. Survival is the percentage of people with a disease who are alive at some point in time after their diagnosis. Prognosis and survival depend on many factors.
The doctor will look at certain aspects of the cancer as well as characteristics of the person (such as other health problems). These are called prognostic factors. The doctor will also look at predictive factors, which influence how a cancer will respond to a certain treatment and how likely it is that the cancer will come back after treatment.
Prognostic and predictive factors are often discussed together. They both play a part in deciding on a prognosis and a treatment plan just for you. Only a doctor familiar with your medical history, the type, stage and other features of the cancer, the treatments chosen and the response to treatment can put all of this information together with survival statistics to arrive at a prognosis and chances of survival.
The following are prognostic and predictive factors for a pituitary neuroendocrine tumour (PitNET), which is the most common type of pituitary gland cancer.
Tumour size and growth
PitNETs that are 1 cm or larger generally have a poorer prognosis than smaller tumours. This is because larger tumours are more likely to grow into (invade) nearby tissue and can be more difficult to completely remove.
If the tumour can be removed with surgery
If all of the PitNET can be removed with surgery, it is called resectable. A tumour that can’t be removed is called unresectable. Resectable PitNETs have a more favourable prognosis than unresectable PitNETs.
Hormone production
A functioning PitNET that continues to make too much of a certain hormone after treatment has a poorer prognosis.
Survival statistics for pituitary gland cancer
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