Editorial: Resistance to Medical Therapy in Pituitary Tumors.

Abstract

Pituitary tumors may exhibit resistance to conventional medical treatments, including somatostatin receptor (SST) ligands (SRLs) and dopamine agonists (DAs) (1, 2). Resistance to medical treatment leads to multi-modal therapies, including surgery and radiotherapy. However, treatment-resistant tumors frequently relapse after radical surgical excision. This is of crucial interest as it occurs in a considerable proportion of patients with pituitary tumors (3). Indeed, resistance to conventional treatments is nowadays considered a predictive factor of the aggressive behavior of the pituitary tumor, being associated with poor prognosis and increased mortality. Predictors of responsiveness to medical treatments are still under investigation, and there is no clear evidence for the best individualized medical therapy in patients with aggressive pituitary lesions