The way you think, the way you behave, the way you eat, can influence your life by 30 to 50 years.
-Deepak Chopra
PNA Spotlight: Dr. Manish Aghi
This month the PNA Spotlight focuses on Dr. Manish K. Aghi.Dr. Manish Aghi is a neurosurgeon specializing in brain tumors at UCSF Medical Center. He cares for adult patients with a wide range of conditions, including astrocytomas and anaplastic astrocytomas, oligodendrogliomas, glioblastomas, meningiomas and pituitary adenomas. As principal investigator at the UCSF Brain Tumor Research Center, his interests include glioblastoma angiogenesis, mechanisms of glioblastoma resistance to anti-angiogenic therapy and experimental glioblastoma therapies such as cancer-killing viruses.
Professor Aghi earned his medical degree and a doctoral degree in neurosciences from Harvard Medical School. He completed a residency in neurosurgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is a member of the Society for Neuro-Oncology, American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Congress of Neurological Surgeons and Pituitary Network Association. Among his honors are the Preuss and Mahaley awards from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, and the Ronald L. Bittner Award, Synthes Skull Base Award and Integra Foundation Award from the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.
His answers follow.
PNA Medical Corner: Pituitary Centers of Excellence
This month the PNA Medical Corner focuses on an article co-authored by several members and colleagues of the PNA: Drs. Chanson, Kaiser, Laws, van der Lely, and Melmed. It addresses a topic that PNA has sought to promote for decades: the designation of Pituitary Centers of Excellence, where patients can get highly specialized care
Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37640885/
Pilot study to define criteria for Pituitary Tumors Centers of Excellence (PTCOE): results of an audit of leading international centers
Featured News and Updates
The FDA has approved NGENLA (somatrogon-ghla)
The FDA has approved NGENLA (somatrogon-ghla), a once-weekly, human growth hormone analog indicated for treatment of pediatric patients aged three years and older who have growth failure due to an inadequate secretion of endogenous growth hormone.
News Articles October 2026
Pituitary story: teen battles craniopharyngioma
A story in the Yakima Herald spotlights the case of a high school student from Washington State who underwent surgery for a craniopharyngioma near his pituitary gland. Read more:
Germ cell tumors masquerading as pituitary inflammation
A new study from China looks at germ cell tumors in adults and concludes that they can often be mistaken for pituitary inflammation. Read more: https://bioengineer.org/rare-brain-germ-cell-tumors-in-adults-often-masquerade-as-pituitary-inflammation-study-finds/
Pituitary story: 82-year-old undergoes pituitary neurosurgery
A hospital in Srinagar, India, reports on a high-risk surgery on an 82-year-old female patient to remove a pituitary macroadenoma. Read more: https://kashmirconvener.com/82-year-old-woman-undergoes-high-risk-pituitary-tumour-surgery-at-paras-srinagar/
Child in Ukraine receives donation of pituitary medicine
The nonprofit Direct Relief reports on the case of a 12-year-old boy in Ukraine with pituitary dwarfism who has received growth hormone medications, thanks to charitable donations. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has severely disrupted medical supplies in that country. Read more: https://www.directrelief.org/2026/09/ukraine-war-children-growth-hormone-donations/
Case study: Craniopharyngioma linked to spontaneous singing
A story in Medical Daily.com looks at the case of a woman in Poland with a craniopharyngioma whose symptoms included a spontaneous desire to sing religious songs. The symptom subsided after surgical intervention, but then returned.
https://www.medicaldaily.com/brain-lesions-spirituality-circuit-religious-singing-tumor-479227
Research Articles
Research Articles October 2026
Pituitary Tumors
Emerging insights into the pathophysiology of pituitary tumour microenvironment.
Fuentes-Fayos AC, Gil-Duque I, De la Rosa-Herencia AS, Sarmento-Cabral A, Flores-Martínez Á, Cano DA, Martínez-Fuentes AJ, Luque RM.Endocr Relat Cancer. 2026 Aug 26:ERC-26-0262. doi: 10.1530/ERC-26-0262. Online ahead of print.
Imaging
Ahmed F.J Imaging Inform Med. 2026 Aug 28. doi: 10.1007/s10278-026-02221-6. Online ahead of print.PMID: 42665755
Magnetic resonance elastography of brain tumors.
Koyuncu N, Uca YO, Sack I.Z Med Phys. 2026 Aug 28:S0939-3889(26)00093-0. doi: 10.1016/j.zemedi.2026.08.001. Online ahead of print.
Pituitary Surgery
Tian L, Liu M, Luo M, Zhou C, Gu J, Zeng J, Shen Q, Tong Z, Jiang Y, Luo B, Lin J, Sheng Z, Peng Y.Neurosurg Rev. 2026 Aug 28;49(1):542. doi: 10.1007/s10143-026-04467-8.
ERAS Protocol Elements and Neurosurgery-Specific Considerations: A Narrative Review.
Domi R, Saxena S, Berger-Estilita J, Biasucci DG, Meco BC, Lilaj K, Huti G, Matot I, Rubulotta F, Camilleri Podesta AM.Turk J Anaesthesiol Reanim. 2026 Aug 28;54(4):248-261. doi: 10.4274/TJAR.2026.2606.
Xu Y, Uchida T, Burgos-Sosa E, Alvarez AS, Rinaldi M, Nakase T, Banu MA, Agostini L, Xiao L, Vigo V, Nisson PL, Menaker SA, Cohen-Gadol AA, Fernandez-Miranda JC.J Neurosurg. 2026 Aug 28:1-13. doi: 10.3171/2026.4.JNS252898. Online ahead of print.
Editor’s note: Dr. Fernandez-Miranda is a member of the PNA.
SurgAnt-ViVQA: learning to anticipate surgical events through GRU-driven temporal cross-attention.
Dhake SC, Huang J, He R, Khan DZ, Mazomenos EB, Bano S, Marcus HJ, Stoyanov D, Clarkson MJ, Hoque MI.Int J Comput Assist Radiol Surg. 2026 Aug 26. doi: 10.1007/s11548-026-03784-z. Online ahead of print.
Javidialsaadi M, Obillo A, Germanwala A, Ghannad AS, Jani RH, Ng I, Prabhu VC, Patel CR, Germanwala AV.Case Rep Neurol Med. 2026 Aug 25;2026:1964813. doi: 10.1155/crnm/1964813. eCollection 2026.
Extent of resection and craniopharyngioma recurrence: a volumetric analysis.
Sarkar S, Vijayaraghavan S, Thakar S, Aryan S.J Neurooncol. 2026 Aug 29;179(2):65. doi: 10.1007/s11060-026-05770-6.
Liang W, Xia X, Fan K, Yang T, Cheng J, Zhu X, Li Y, Wang J, Ma Y, Yang Y.Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2026 Aug 13;17:1796777. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2026.1796777. eCollection 2026.
Acromegaly
Rockwell S, Boley JS, Pulido N, Safa M, Chertman LS.Cureus. 2026 Jul 28;18(7):e113532. doi: 10.7759/cureus.113532. eCollection 2026 Jul.
Acromegaly and colorectal cancer risk: emerging roles of the gut microbiota.
Grifoni GFA, Favero V, Cozzi RC, Chiodini I.Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2026 Aug 13;17:1820034. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2026.1820034. eCollection 2026.
Sakaue TA, Mukai K, Kajimoto Y, Obata Y, Takahara M, Shimomura I.JCEM Case Rep. 2026 Aug 28;4(9):luag163. doi: 10.1210/jcemcr/luag163. eCollection 2026 Sep.PMID: 42666735
Hormonal Health
Cretu AM, Kamar AAM, Ciobica A, Puia D, Doroftei M, Doroftei B.Front Reprod Health. 2026 Aug 14;8:1914709. doi: 10.3389/frph.2026.1914709. eCollection 2026.
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