Español
PDFs by language
Our 24/7 cancer helpline provides support for people dealing with cancer. We can connect you with trained cancer information specialists who will answer questions about a cancer diagnosis and provide guidance and a compassionate ear.
Chat live online
Select the Live Chat button at the bottom of the page
At our National Cancer Information Center trained Cancer Information Specialists can answer questions 24 hours a day, every day of the year to empower you with accurate, up-to-date information to help you make educated health decisions. We connect patients, caregivers, and family members with valuable services and resources.
Or ask us how you can get involved and support the fight against cancer. Some of the topics we can assist with include:
For medical questions, we encourage you to review our information with your doctor.
Many pituitary tumors aren’t detected until they start to cause signs and symptoms. But some pituitary tumors are found early with imaging tests or blood tests.
For members of families known to have an increased risk of pituitary tumors because of a genetic syndrome such as multiple endocrine neoplasia, type I (MEN1), doctors often recommend regular blood testing of pituitary hormone levels. These tests can often help find a tumor early so that it can be removed completely, which increases the chance for a cure.
For most people, screening for pituitary tumors is not recommended. (Screening is testing for a disease such as a pituitary tumor in people without any symptoms.)
Sometimes a pituitary tumor is found early because a person has a CT or MRI scan of the head for some other reason. These tumors are sometimes referred to as pituitary incidentalomas, because they are found incidentally (by accident). Incidentalomas might not need to be treated, as long as they aren’t causing any problems, although the doctor might recommend watching them over time to make sure they aren’t growing.
Functional pituitary adenomas (tumors that make excess hormones like prolactin or ACTH) are often found when they are still small because the excess hormones cause symptoms.
Non-functional pituitary tumors (tumors that don’t make enough hormones to cause symptoms) are less likely to be found early. These tumors typically don’t cause symptoms until they’ve grown large enough to press on nearby normal pituitary cells, nerves, or parts of the brain near the pituitary.
The American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team
Our team is made up of doctors and oncology certified nurses with deep knowledge of cancer care as well as journalists, editors, and translators with extensive experience in medical writing.
Dorsey JF, Salinas RD, Dang M, et al. Chapter 63: Cancer of the central nervous system. In: Niederhuber JE, Armitage JO, Doroshow JH, Kastan MB, Tepper JE, eds. Abeloff’s Clinical Oncology. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa. Elsevier: 2020.
National Cancer Institute. Physician Data Query (PDQ). Pituitary Tumors Treatment. 2020. Accessed at https://www.cancer.gov/types/pituitary/patient/pituitary-treatment-pdq on July 12, 2022.
Snyder PJ. Clinical manifestations and diagnosis of gonadotroph and other clinically nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas. UpToDate. 2022. Accessed at https://www.uptodate.com/contents/clinical-manifestations-and-diagnosis-of-gonadotroph-and-other-clinically-nonfunctioning-pituitary-adenomas on July 6, 2022.
Last Revised: October 10, 2022
American Cancer Society medical information is copyrighted material. For reprint requests, please see our Content Usage Policy.