This is my conversation with Dr. Ken Ho, Professor at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney and Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, Australia, on why a single word could change how pituitary patients are treated, and why leading endocrinologists are asking the WHO to reconsider. In this podcasts interview he walks through why he and colleagues at the International Pituitary Society object to the WHO (World Health Organization) reclassification of pituitary adenomas as “PitNETs” (pituitary neuroendocrine tumors). The central argument is that adenomas are almost never malignant, so folding them into a neuroendocrine-tumor category with malignant connotations misrepresents a benign, indolent condition and drops it into the oncology world. He raised several concerns. First, the change appears unjustified, here nothing about the biology or prognosis of the tumors has changed, only the name. Second, the decision was made without discussion with the other professional societies that share these patients. And third, the practical harms are significant with patient organizations reporting heightened patient anxiety, potential fallout for health insurance and employment, and psychological burden.
You can read recent articles from Pituitary World News here.
And If your like to learn more these links will take you to important papers on the subject:
Pituitary Neoplasm Nomenclature Workshop: Does Adenoma Stand the Test of Time? Click here to read
Imaging of pituitary tumors: an update with the 5th WHO Classifications—part 1. Pituitary neuroendocrine tumor (PitNET)/pituitary adenoma – Read more here
A proposed clinical classification for pituitary neoplasms to guide therapy and prognosis – Read more here
Stay tuned to PWN for more developments and how to get involved.
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