Discovery of a pituitary adenoma following treatment with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist in a patient with prostate cancer.

Author(s): Massoud W, Paparel P, Lopez JG, Perrin P, Daumont M, Ruffion A

Affiliation(s): Department of Urology, Lyon-Sud Hospital, Lyon, France.

Publication date & source: 2006-01, Int J Urol., 13(1):87-8.

Publication type: Case Reports

We report the case of a T3 prostate cancer in a 70-year-old white man. Hormone therapy represents a prominent branch in the treatment of locally advanced and metastatic prostate cancer. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists have been proven to have a double effect on androgen metabolism: an initially stimulating, followed by an inhibitory, effect on the pituitary gland. This phenomenon may be noxious in the case of gonadotroph adenoma, with subsequent symptoms of intracranial hypertension. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonists (abarelix), by avoiding the flare-up reaction, might be used in such instances.