“The human body is the best picture of the human soul.” – Tony Robbins

 

 

 

PNA Spotlight: Phillip Cem Cezayirli, MD

This month the PNA Spotlight focuses on neurosurgeon Dr. Philip Cem Cezayirli, part of the Haynes Neurosurgical Group in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. Cezayirli is affiliated with four local medical centers: Princeton Baptist, Shelby Baptist, Grandview, and Brookwood Baptist Medical Centers.

Dr. Philip Cezayirli

He is a board-certified neurosurgeon with a focus on neurosurgical oncology and spine surgery and is licensed to practice neurosurgery in Alabama.

He earned his MD at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine in Birmingham, Alabama. He spent a year studying with Dr. Uğur Türe at Yeditepe University and Hospital in Istanbul, Turkey. He did his neurosurgery residency at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Montefiore, Bronx New York. And he completed a neurosurgical oncology fellowship at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX.

Dr. Cezayiri was kind enough to speak with the PNA about a range of issues. Here is the conversation, edited for clarity.

Read More Here

 

Expertise needed for tumors that invade the pituitary’s protective layer

The pituitary gland is surrounded by the cavernous sinus and internal carotid artery. A thin layer of connective tissue separates the sinus and artery from the pituitary gland. Pituitary tumors sometimes invade this protective layer, called the medial wall of the cavernous sinus (MWCS).

That infiltration puts pituitary tumors in close proximity to the internal carotid artery and to cranial nerves, significantly complicating treatment approaches — especially when a tumor needs to be entirely removed to achieve cure.

“Standard procedure would be to resect the pituitary tumor up to the medial wall, to avoid damaging the artery. But if there’s tumor in the wall, the patient won’t be cured,” says Mayo Clinic neurosurgeon Dr. Kaisorn L. Chaichana.

MWCS infiltration is more common with functioning adenomas, such as prolactinomas and tumors that cause acromegaly or Cushing’s disease. Incomplete removal of these tumors can lower the chances of hormone control and increase the risk of tumor regrowth.

Fortunately, neurosurgeons are learning how to meet these challenges. Surgically removing part of the MCWS, to completely resect pituitary tumors, can improve outcomes.

“It’s a formidable challenge,” Dr. Chaichana says. “It takes people well-versed in the surgery, and who have experience, to know where they can open that medial wall. If you’re too far to the side — even by less than a millimeter — you would cut the carotid artery, which would be catastrophic.”

Mayo Clinic neurosurgeons use Doppler ultrasound to guide entry into the cavernous sinus, allowing selective resection of the MWCS. “We listen to the sound of the carotid artery, find a space within the medial wall where the artery isn’t present, and make a small slit in that opening,” Dr. Chaichana says. “Then we remove the wall from the carotid artery.”

It’s also important to limit packing of the cavernous sinus after surgery. “Overpacking that site can cause pressure and injury to the cranial nerves, which could lead to facial numbness and eye motion problems,” Dr. Chaichana says.

A multidisciplinary team that includes ENT/head and neck surgeons, as well as neurosurgeons, provides additional anatomical expertise.

“Very few centers do this procedure. But we’ve seen higher rates of remission for functional tumors when we take out that wall,” Dr. Chaichana says. “For a lot of functional tumors, selective resection of the MWCS can mean the difference between tumor remaining and tumor being gone — and therefore, cure or not cure.”

Featured News and Updates

News Articles September 2025

News Articles September 2025

Community remembers young pituitary patient with a fundraiser, scholarship

An article in the Utica Observer Dispatch tells the story of a fifth grader named Olivia Sacco, who passed away last year from septo-optic dysplasia. Her condition meant she was born with an underdeveloped pituitary gland and had to be on hormone replacement for her entire young life. Recently the community held a lemonade stand to raise money for a scholarship in her honor. Read more here: https://www.uticaod.com/story/news/local/2025/08/26/olivias-memory-lives-on-in-hearts-of-community/85834655007/

 South Korean government cracks down on misuse of growth hormone

South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has launched an investigation into medical providers and pharmacies to crack down on misuse of growth hormones. Specifically, they are hoping to curb prescriptions of hormones and steroids given with promises to increase a child’s height or improve muscle mass. Read more: https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-science/2025/08/25/BMBNGXXUGRBJ3FK5KMDNMZEJMY/

Patient Story: 20-year-old pituitary tumor survivor races for a cure

A young woman in the UK is doing the Walk of Hope to raise money for brain tumor research. Esme Smith was first diagnosed at 11 years old with a golf ball-sized craniopharyngioma and successfully underwent surgery the following year. Read  more: https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/hampshire-brain-tumour-survivor-takes-on-25-5-mile-challenge-to-find-a-cure

Brain tumor detection: optimized deep learning

A study published on the website Nature.com looks at optimized deep learning for brain tumor detection.  The authors explore a hybrid approach with “VGG16, an attention mechanism, and optimized hyperparameters to classify brain tumors into different categories as glioma, meningioma, pituitary tumor, and no tumor”. Read more: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-04591-3#Sec18

Research Articles

September 2025 Research Articles

Pituitary Tumors

Long-term behaviour of non-functioning pituitary microadenomas: experience from a tertiary care centre in Romania.

Iftimie ME, Burcea IF, Dobre R, Pigni S, Prodam F, Poiană C.Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2025 Aug 11;16:1613239. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1613239. eCollection 2025.

 

Clinical characteristics and surgical approach for pituitary granular cell tumors: a case series of six patients and literature review.

Liu J, Zhang W, Huang Q, Ye X, Huang G.Front Oncol. 2025 Aug 11;15:1490783. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1490783. eCollection 2025.

 

Autoimmune thyroid disease and pituitary adenoma in a female patient with 18p deletion syndrome: a case report and review of the literature.

Ye J, Shu Y, Wang M, Luo H, Liang W, Lu Q, Mei W, Deng J.BMC Endocr Disord. 2025 Aug 25;25(1):199. doi: 10.1186/s12902-025-02017-9.

 

Prospectively assessed hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction after proton therapy in adults with head and neck, skull base and brain tumors.

Bouter J, Azemar N, Vela A, Dutheil P, Lesueur P, Stefan D, Reznik Y, Thariat J.Sci Rep. 2025 Aug 24;15(1):31085. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-16960-z.

 

Pituitary Surgery

Alterations of Brain Structural and Functional Connectivity Networks and Its Correlations With Cognitive Function in Patients With Hypothalamic Syndrome Following Craniopharyngioma Resection.

Li S, Ma J, Tong Z, Jiang H, Li L, Zhang Y.Brain Behav. 2025 Aug;15(8):e70730. doi: 10.1002/brb3.70730.

 

Isolated syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis (SIAD) after Transphenoidal surgery of a non-functioning pituitary adenoma: clinical case report.

Quilismal N, Risso M, Agüero P, Lima R, Garagorry F, Centurion D, Pineyro MM.Oxf Med Case Reports. 2025 Aug 25;2025(8):omaf152. doi: 10.1093/omcr/omaf152. eCollection 2025 Aug.

 

Diagnostics

A Web-Deployed, Explainable AI System for Comprehensive Brain Tumor Diagnosis.

Aksoy S, Demircioglu P, Bogrekci I.Neurol Int. 2025 Aug 4;17(8):121. doi: 10.3390/neurolint17080121.


Machine learning-based models and radiomics: can they be reliable predictors for meningioma recurrence? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Niroomand B, Mohammadzadeh I, Hajikarimloo B, Habibi MA, Mohammadzadeh S, Bahri AM, Bagheri MH, Albakr A, Karmur BS, Borghei-Razavi H.Neurosurg Rev. 2025 Aug 27;48(1):623. doi: 10.1007/s10143-025-03744-2.


From Detection to Diagnosis: An Advanced Transfer Learning Pipeline Using YOLO11 with Morphological Post-Processing for Brain Tumor Analysis for MRI Images.

Chourib I.J Imaging. 2025 Aug 21;11(8):282. doi: 10.3390/jimaging11080282.

 

Hormonal Health
Oxytocin, Vasopressin and Stress: A Hormetic Perspective.

Nazarloo HP, Kingsbury MA, Lamont H, Dale CV, Nazarloo P, Davis JM, Porges EC, Cuffe SP, Carter CS.Curr Issues Mol Biol. 2025 Aug 7;47(8):632. doi: 10.3390/cimb47080632.

 

Acromegaly

Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Fractionated Stereotactic Radiotherapy With a Linear Accelerator (LINAC) for Acromegaly Remission: Clinical Experience From a Tertiary Neurological Center in Latin America.

Santos-Santos RI, Flores-Vázquez JG, Rodriguez-Hernandez LA, Fuentes-Calvo I, Rodríguez-Hernández IA, Mateo Nouel EJ, Villanueva-Castro E, Muñuzuri-Camacho MA, Palacios-Rodríguez RA, Wong-Achi X, Villalobos-Díaz R, Moncada-Habib T, Moreno-Jiménez S, Gutierrez-Aceves GA, Portocarrero-Ortiz LA.Cureus. 2025 Jul 24;17(7):e88708. doi: 10.7759/cureus.88708. eCollection 2025 Jul.

Cushing’s

Relapse of Cyclic Cushing Syndrome With a 19-Year Remission: Potential Involvement of COVID-19 in the Relapse.

Takayama K, Mukai K, Motoda S, Ose N, Obata Y, Shimomura I.JCEM Case Rep. 2025 Aug 22;3(10):luaf189. doi: 10.1210/jcemcr/luaf189. eCollection 2025 Oct.

 

 

 

Count on your Xeris CareConnection™ Team for unparalleled Cushing’s Support

Cushing’s can be challenging, but there is support so patients can feel like themselves again. The main goal of treating Cushing’s is to get cortisol levels back to normal. This Pituitary Awareness Month, Xeris Pharmaceuticals® is highlighting the importance of one-on-one support for patients living with Cushing’s Syndrome and support for HCPs treating Cushing’s Syndrome.

Sign up to get dedicated support:

Patients: Sign up for support | Recorlev® (levoketoconazole)

HCP’s: Connect with Xeris support | RECORLEV® (levoketoconazole)

Have more questions? Call for more support at 1-844-444-RCLV (7258)

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