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Can Gamma Knife Radiosurgery be used for pituitary tumours?

Dr Ashok Khurana
Director, Genitourinary and Vascular Ultrasound,
The Ultrasound Lab,
New Delhi

Q: Can Gamma Knife be used in a patient who has had a transnasal surgery for a pituitary tumour since some 20-30% of the tumour is still left?

A:Gamma Knife Radiosurgery (GKRS) may be used as an adjunct to subtotal surgery or recurrent tumour. Radio surgery generally leads to a more rapid reduction in abnormal pituitary tumour hormone levels than conventional radiation.Protocols examining staged or fractionated GKRS may extend the benefit of this treatment to a greater fraction of pituitary tumours.