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 August 2026
Secretary of Defense concerned about low testosterone in the military
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is mandating testing of male troops over age 30 for low testosterone and will offer testosterone replacement therapy. Many endocrinologists say this approach is problematic. Read more: https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/07/hegseth-wants-a-high-t-military-doctors-call-it-a-clinical-minefield/
The Endocrine Society issue statement in the wake of Hegseth’s announcement:
Pituitary story: Lionel Messi
Soccer mega-star Lionel Messi was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency as a child. Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-in/health/other/lionel-messi-overcame-growth-hormone-deficiency-as-a-child-a-condition-that-almost-derailed-his-football-dream/ar-AA280JJc
Vision issues in acromegaly
PNA member Dr. Maria Fleseriu is featured in an article in EverydayHealth.com about how acromegaly can affect a patient’s eyesight. Read more: https://www.everydayhealth.com/hormones-metabolic-disorders/how-acromegaly-can-affect-your-eyesight/
Delayed diagnosis of Cushing’s in Japanese children
An article in Cushing’s Disease News looks at a study that found Japanese children often face delays in diagnosis of Cushing’s disease, but many are successfully treated with surgery. Read more: https://cushingsdiseasenews.com/news/japanese-children-face-long-delays-cushings-disease-diagnosis/
Pituitary story: Idaho teen battles germinoma near pituitary gland
Delayed puberty and growth, combined with diabetes insipidus, led doctors to diagnose a 16-year-old boy from Idaho with a germ cell tumor near his pituitary gland. Read more: https://www.fredhutch.org/en/news/blog/2026/07/college-bound-16-year-old-didnt-let-germinoma-get-him-down.html
Pituitary surgery story: Transsphenoidal surgery at Walter Reed
A story in the Times of India highlights the work of an Indian American pituitary surgeon at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland: Major Jagatkumar “J.” Patel, and his colleague Army neurosurgeon Lt. Col. Charles Miller. Read more: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/health/indian-american-army-surgeon-removes-golf-ball-sized-brain-tumour-through-a-patients-nose-avoiding-open-skull-surgery/amp_articleshow/132781973.cms
Experts play down the idea of “male menopause”
An article in the Kansas City Star explains that men do not experience a sharp drop-off in hormones in the same way women do; the process is more gradual. Read more: https://www.kansascity.com/living/article316673842.html
The same reporter looks at testosterone replacement therapy in an article in the Miami Herald: https://www.miamiherald.com/living/article316675898.html
Research Articles
Research Articles August 2026
Pituitary tumors
Ameen D, ElSabban Y, Kalaitzoglou D, Shapey J, Barazi S, Thomas N, Aylwin S, Maratos E.Endocrine. 2026 Aug 1;91(1):243. doi: 10.1007/s12020-026-04712-6.
Kasireddy HD, Sahu V, Sharma A, Kumar A, Shrivastava S.Indian J Ophthalmol. 2026 Aug 1;74(8):1185-1190. doi: 10.4103/IJO.IJO_215_26. Epub 2026 Jul 31.
Case report of two growth hormone-secreting invasive pituitary adenomas and literature review.
Zhou J, Wen J, Leng H, Yi J.Arch Med Sci. 2026 Jun 23;22(3):1926-1931. doi: 10.5114/aoms/224312. eCollection 2026.
Altunyuva O, Balcin N, Ocakoglu G, Taskapilioglu MO, Yilmazlar S.Turk Neurosurg. 2026;36(4):509-516. doi: 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.49331-25.2.
Reyes JS, Hadjipanayis CG, Bernstein K, Speckter H, Gonzalez I, Chytka T, Liscak R, Bowden GN, Sumi T, Narita K, Kano H, Martínez-Moreno N, Martínez-Álvarez R, Picozzi P, Franzini A, Tripathi M, Rai A, Kumar N, Douri K, Mathieu D, Dono A, Amezquita-Contreras C, Blanco AI, Esquenazi Y, Tos SM, Mantziaris G, Peker S, Samanci Y, Duzkalir AH, Meng Y, Sheehan JP, Kondziolka D, Lunsford LD, Niranjan A.J Neurooncol. 2026 Jul 31;179(1):22. doi: 10.1007/s11060-026-05736-8.
Editor’s note: Dr. Sheehan is a member of the PNA.
Cushing’s
Annexin A1 as a diagnostic biomarker for cyclic Cushing disease.
Rao Z, Wu L, Jiang L, Su T, Cao Y, Lin S, He X, Ye Y, Ning G, Wang W, Zhang C.iScience. 2026 Jul 22;29(8):116907. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2026.116907. eCollection 2026 Aug 21.
Constanthin PE, Ferrière A, Sanchez-Gallardo F, Nunes ML, Berge J, Engelhardt J.J Neurosurg. 2026 Jul 31:1-9. doi: 10.3171/2026.2.JNS252331. Online ahead of print.
Detomas M, Prada Salcedo JP, Altieri B, Stüfchen I, Nasi-Kordhishti I, Wolfsberger S, Losa M, Quinkler M, Kimpel O, Vila G, Honegger JB, Rubinstein G, Fassnacht M, Deutschbein T.Eur J Endocrinol. 2026 Jul 31:lvag141. doi: 10.1093/ejendo/lvag141. Online ahead of print.
Acromegaly
Genc B, Polat SB, Koc A, Ersoy R.Pituitary. 2026 Jul 31;29(4):136. doi: 10.1007/s11102-026-01737-y.
Hormonal health
Holz EA, Imran M, Reyes N, Izquierdo-Pretel G.Cureus. 2026 Jun 30;18(6):e111830. doi: 10.7759/cureus.111830. eCollection 2026 Jun.
Alnahar S, Senjab A, Gharib S, Gharib Z, Hadid L.Clin Case Rep. 2026 Jul 29;14(8):e73261. doi: 10.1002/ccr3.73261. eCollection 2026 Aug.
A Novel LHX3 Variant Associated With Combined Pituitary Hormone Deficiency in an Indian Kindred.
Palaniappan S, Sridhar S, Thasarathan S, Shanmugam D, Dutta P.Cureus. 2026 Jun 29;18(6):e111778. doi: 10.7759/cureus.111778. eCollection 2026 Jun.
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