Doctors administer radiation therapy for pituitary tumors that:

• Cannot be completely removed safely
• Grow quickly
• Do not shrink with medication
• Are located in areas of the brain where surgery is unsafe
• Recur after surgery

Radiation therapy for pituitary tumors does not usually work quickly. It can take several months or years to control a pituitary tumor’s growth or stop hormone production.

Types of radiation therapy for pituitary tumors:

Two types of radiation therapy are used to treat pituitary tumors:

• External beam radiation therapy
• Stereotactic radiosurgery

In some patients, the pituitary gland stops working a few years after radiation therapy. If this happens, the patient will need to take supplements to replace the hormones the pituitary gland normally produces.