What are the tumors of the pituitary gland?
Most pituitary tumors are benign (and a few are non-cancerous cysts) but because of their location, they still produce serious adverse effects as they enlarge and they are rarely curable. Many produce hormones that have effects on the glands normally targeted by pituitary hormones, and have a knock-on effect on the targets of the hormones of these glands. The most common hormone produced by pituitary tumors stimulates the adrenal cortex leading to clinical signs associated with overstimulation of these glands. What do we know about the cause? The reason why a particular pet may develop this, or any cancer, is not straightforward. Cancer is often seemingly the culmination of a series of circumstances that come together for the unfortunate individual. Non-cancerous cysts of the pituitary glands may be genetic or due to poor formation of the area in early life. We know little about the causes of pituitary cancers. Cancer induction is a multistep process called tumor progression. Some canc
