Surgical Debulking of Pituitary Adenomas

The current goal of treatment for people with acromegaly is normalization of both growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like-growth-factor-1 (IGF-1) levels. Normalization of GH and IGF-1 levels attenuates the morbidity (hypertension, cardiovascular disease, sleep apnea, increased cancer risk, arthritis) and increased mortality associated with persistent GH and IGF-1 elevation. The optimal approach to achieving these goals in patients with pituitary macroadenomas remains controversial. Available treatment modalities include transsphenoidal hypophysectomy, medical therapy (somatostatin analogues and/or dopaminergic agonists), radiotherapy, or a combination or these interventions. No randomized trials have been conducted to investigate whether surgical debulking of pituitary macroadenomas enhances the efficacy of medical therapy. This study is designed to rigorously investigate whether surgical debulking increases the efficacy of a long-acting depot somatostatin preparation, Sandostatin LAR, so that evidence-based optimal care may be offered to patients with acromegaly.