What is the significance of silent and plurihormonal pituitary tumors?
- The diagnosis of a silent or a plurihormonal adenoma is important because of their typical aggressive behavior, high degrees of invasiveness, and high rates of recurrence.
- Patients with these tumors are typically refractory to standard treatments and often require repeat surgical resections and/or radiation treatments.
- In addition, a subset of silent tumors, particularly the silent ACTH- or GH-secreting tumors, may later progress to functionally-apparent disease, usually in association with tumor growth.
