From the Guidelines
Pituitary adenomas have a prevalence of approximately 1 in 1,000 people in the general population, with the prevalence increasing with age, and a slight female predominance, particularly for prolactinomas 1.
Prevalence of Pituitary Adenomas
The prevalence of pituitary adenomas is estimated to be around 1 in 1,000 people in the general population, with a higher prevalence in older adults and a slight female predominance, particularly for prolactinomas.
- The prevalence of pituitary adenomas increases with age, with a significant increase in incidence during late adolescence, from 1% of all intracranial neoplasms before 15 years of age to 18% for patients aged 15–24 years 1.
- Pituitary adenomas are relatively common, with an estimated prevalence of approximately 1 in 1,000 people in the general population, however, when including incidental findings from imaging studies, the prevalence may be as high as 10-20% of the population 1.
Clinically Significant Pituitary Adenomas
The prevalence of clinically significant pituitary adenomas that cause symptoms due to hormone overproduction or local mass effects is much lower, estimated at about 80-100 cases per million population.
- Many pituitary adenomas are non-functioning and cause no symptoms, being discovered incidentally during brain imaging performed for unrelated reasons 1.
- Pituitary adenomas have a high survival rate but might confer potentially serious, life-changing and life-limiting sequelae, and increase in incidence with increasing age over childhood, representing 78% of pituitary fossa lesions in children and young people under 19 years of age 1.
From the Research
Prevalence of Pituitary Adenoma
- The prevalence of pituitary adenoma is estimated to be around 1 case per 1000 of the general population 2.
- Epidemiologic studies show that pituitary adenomas are increasing in incidence (between 3.9 and 7.4 cases per 100,000 per year) and prevalence (76 to 116 cases per 100,000 population) in the general population 2.
- Data from postmortem studies and imaging studies suggest that 1 of 5 individuals in the general population may have pituitary adenoma 3.
- Pituitary adenomas account for about 15% of intracranial neoplasms 3.
Types of Pituitary Adenoma
- The most common type of pituitary adenoma is prolactinoma 3, 4.
- Clinically non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) represent one-third of pituitary adenomas and do not secrete hormones 3.
- Other types of pituitary adenomas include growth hormone (GH)-secreting adenomas, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-secreting adenomas, and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)-secreting adenomas 5, 4.