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Transphenoidal hypophysectomy in the management of carcinoma of the prostate
Author(s) -
Smith Joseph A.,
Middleton Richard G.,
Eyre Harmon J.,
Roberts Theodore S.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(19840601)53:11<2385::aid-cncr2820531102>3.0.co;2-m
Subject(s) - hypophysectomy , medicine , endocrine system , prostate , prostate cancer , disease , surgery , carcinoma , cancer , oncology , hormone
Fifteen consecutive patients with progressive metastatic prostate cancer who had failed primary endocrine therapy underwent surgical pituitary ablation by transphenoidal hypophysectomy. Eleven patients showed subjective improvement with reduced pain postoperatively. No patient had any evidence of an objective response although duration of survival was longer in subjective responders (15 months) than nonresponders (4 months). Neither the quality nor the duration of the initial endocrine‐induced remission predicted the subsequent response to hypophysectomy. The lack of objective improvement in these patients suggests that the subjective responses seen in prostate cancer patients after hypophysectomy may be due to alterations in pain receptive mechanisms rather than to a favorable impact on the disease process itself.