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Media Inquiries: 434-924-5679 U.VA. NEUROSURGEONS IMPLANT WAFERS TO TREAT RECURRING PITUITARY TUMORS |
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Tumors in the pituitary gland, often called the “master gland” of the body, are the third most common type of intracranial tumor. In most cases, the tumor is benign. But in some people, pituitary tumors can be aggressive with a recurrence rate as high as 15 to 20 percent after surgical resection. Aggressively recurrent pituitary tumors can cause complications ranging from visual loss to death. To help keep aggressive pituitary tumors from coming back, neurosurgeons at the University of Virginia Health System are studying a new treatment-- chemotherapy wafers that are implanted in a region called the sella turcica, housing the pituitary in the base of the skull. “The wafers are made of a special polymer and contain a chemotherapeutic drug called bischoloroethyl-nitrosourea or BCNU,” said Dr. Edward R. Laws, Jr., a professor of neurosurgery at U.Va. and a pioneer in pituitary surgery techniques. “The wafers are about half an inch in diameter and are in direct contact with tumor cells. They slowly release the chemotherapy agent, but are far enough away from a patients’ brain to alleviate complications in vital brain cells.” Laws and his U.Va. colleagues developed a Phase I study of the wafers involving ten patients with aggressive pituitary tumors. Reporting in the August edition of the journal Neurosurgery, Laws and his research team found that treatment with as many as eight wafers is safe, with no adverse reactions, and feasible for patients with recurring pituitary adenomas and craniopharyngiomas, lesions that can occur in childhood or late adulthood. In the U.Va. study, six of the ten patients who had the wafers implanted, experienced good pituitary tumor control. One patient experienced tumor progression. The tumors came back in two patients, who eventually died. One patient died of after stroke. Laws says the results are encouraging but by no means conclusive. “The group of patients studied is too small and too diverse to lead to definitive recommendations on care at the present time,” Laws said. Laws plans to enroll additional patients in the wafer study at U.Va. to gather additional, more robust, medical data. October 9, 2003 |