From the desk of Pituitary World News co-founder J D Faccinetti – In November 2019, we wrote an opinion piece on the current discussion about reclassifying and renaming pituitary adenomas to Pituitary Neuroendocrine Tumors or PitNETs. Well, the rumblings about this change and the arguments from the proponents and opponents to the reclassification are continuing. And, since this decision could affect people with pituitary disease, we thought it would be a good idea to revisit what we wrote, offer a few more thoughts, and ask for your opinions.
By way of background, a group called the International Pituitary Pathology Club proposed the change in 2017. This is a PubMed Central paper explaining the rationale for a name change from this group.
In turn, the Pituitary Society convened a group to participate in a workshop to address the issue. Our original opinion piece – Tumors and adenomas: “to NET or not to NET,” offers an explanation from both sides of the debate. In the article, Pituitary World News cofounder Dr. Lewis Blevins also weighs in on the issues. Our 2019 article offers excerpts from each side’s argument stating their position and Dr. Blevins’ thoughts.
In addition, a recently published article by The Pituitary Society cites the results and recommendations from a workshop in which experts discussed the proposed changes; you can read the article here. The group reported that 79% (38/48) of authors recommended that the term “pituitary adenoma” not be replaced by “pituitary tumor,” and 58% (28/48) did not favor using the word “tumor” to designate the minimal subset of invasive adenomas” and issued a series of recommendations.
If you have an opinion on this, we’d love to hear it. We prepared a simple, one-question poll to gather your input, which will remain anonymous. We will use this feedback to write a follow-up article so your opinions will be heard. Your voice is essential. This decision could influence how pituitary disease is perceived by researchers, insurance, physicians, the industry, and the government. So please read these materials, learn more, and send us your thoughts.
How would you vote? Click here to answer.
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