Surgery is a common treatment, and it is almost always successful IF performed by a skilled and specialized neurosurgeon. The smaller the tumor, the greater the chance the surgery will be successful. Large tumors that grow upward (into the nerves that mediate vision) or laterally (into the cavernous sinuses that contain the major arteries to the brain-the carotid arteries) increase the risk of surgery and are generally associated with a lower probability of cure. Early diagnosis and treatment is the key.