Hypothalamic-Pituitary Axis Dysfunction after Whole Brain Radiotherapy - A Cohort Study.
Anticancer Res
; 40(10): 5787-5792, 2020 Oct.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32988906
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/AIM:
Hypothalamic-pituitary (HT-P) dysfunction is one of the most common endocrine late effects following cranial radiotherapy. However, there are currently no specific data describing this complication in adult-onset cancer patients after whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT). The present cohort study aims to establish the prevalence of HT-P axis dysfunction in this group of patients. PATIENTS ANDMETHODS:
Twenty-six cancer patients previously treated with WBRT (median follow-up=20.5 months) received standardized endocrine check-up focusing on HT-P function.RESULTS:
In 50% of the patients, impaired hypothalamic-pituitary function was detected during follow-up. While functional loss of a single hormonal axis was evident in 34.6% of patients, 7.7% showed an impairment of multiple endocrine axes, and one patient developed adrenocorticotropic hormone deficiency. Hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction did not directly correlate with the applied WBRT total doses.CONCLUSION:
In our cohort, hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction appeared to be common after WBRT and was diagnosed as early as 6 months following radiation. This finding highlights the need for routine endocrine follow-up even in patients with limited life expectancy.Key words
Full text:
1
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pituitary Gland
/
Brain Neoplasms
/
Cranial Irradiation
/
Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System
Type of study:
Etiology_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Language:
En
Journal:
Anticancer Res
Year:
2020
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Germany