Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 6, 2026
Endoscopic Endonasal Trans-sphenoidal Approach: Minimally Invasive Surgery for Pituitary Adenomas
Published on: January 17, 2018
Outcomes for Pituitary Adenoma Patients Treated with Linac- Based Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy: a Long
Putipun Puataweepong1, Mantana Dhanachai, Ake Hansasuta
1Radiation and Oncology Unit, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
Background:
The study analyzed the long term clinical outcomes of pituitary adenoma cases treated with the first Thailand installation of a dedicated Linac-based stereotactic radiation machine (X-Knife).
Materials And Methods:
A retrospective review of 115 consecutive pituitary adenoma patients treated with X-Knife at the Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand from 1997 to 2003 was performed. Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) was selected for 21 patients (18%) including those with small tumors (≤3 cm) located ≥5 mm. from the optic apparatus, whereas the remaining 94 patients (82%) were treated with fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (FSRT).
Results:
With a median follow-up time of 62 months (range, 21-179), the six-year progression free survival was 95% (93% for SRS and 95% for FSRT). The overall hormone normalization at 3 and 5 years was 20% and 30%, respectively, with average time required for normalization of approximately 16 months for SRS and 20 months for FSRT. The incidence of new hypopituitarism was 10% in the SRS group and 9% in the FSRT group. Four patients (5%) developed optic neuropathy (1 in the SRS group and 3 in the FSRT group).
Conclusions:
Linac-based SRS and FSRT achieved similar high local control rates with few complications in pituitary adenoma cases. However, further well designed, randomized comparative studies between SRS versus FSRT particularly focusing on hormone normalization rates are required.
