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 November 2025
News Articles November 2025
Case report: from pituitary tumor to metastatic cancer
An article on Cureus.com looks at the case of a 35-year-old man with a lactrotroph pituitary adenoma that progressed to a metastatic pituitary carcinoma. In this rare case, the cancer is “resistant to surgery, radiation, and medical treatments.“ Read more: https://www.cureus.com/articles/348490-transformation-of-lactotroph-pituitary-adenoma-to-metastatic-pituitary-carcinoma-a-case-report#!/
Patient story: Musician Lou Gramm on his battle with a pituitary tumor
An article on blabbermouth.net features the pituitary story of musician Lou Gramm of the group “Foreigner”, who had surgery for a craniopharyngioma in 1997 after suffering headaches and memory loss. Read more: https://blabbermouth.net/news/lou-gramm-says-he-couldnt-remember-the-words-to-foreigners-classic-songs-shortly-after-his-brain-surgery
Researchers use artificial intelligence to screen for childhood hormone deficiency
An article in EMJ Reviews looks at a study on whether artificial intelligence can predict growth hormone deficiency in children of short stature. The machine learning model examines MRI scans of the pituitary and has shown good results. In the future, this could lead doctors to order fewer invasive growth hormone stimulation tests for children. Read more: https://www.emjreviews.com/en-us/amj/radiology/news/mri-radiomics-model-predicts-childhood-hormone-deficiency/
Patient on off-label cabergoline develops impulse control disorder as tumor grows
An study in Cureus.com examines the case of a 19-year-old man with a prolactinoma who was given off-label cabergoline at three times the normal dose for ten years. He developed an impulse control disorder and a spending and gambling problem, and was lost to follow-up. Radiosurgery was rejected, as the patient was deemed unable to comply with the necessary follow-up regime. It was later discovered that his tumor was resistant to cabergoline and had grown and extended into the cavernous sinus, making it inoperable. Read more: https://www.cureus.com/articles/416467-giant-prolactinoma-resistant-to-high-dose-cabergoline-in-a-young-male-lost-to-follow-up#!/
Research Articles
November 2025 Research Articles
Pituitary tumors
Zhang B, Zhang J, Li Z, Sheng H, Li H, Lu Y, Liu X, Xu Z, Huang Y, Zhu C, Wen Y, He X, Zhang L.Neuro Oncol. 2025 Oct 24:noaf249. doi: 10.1093/neuonc/noaf249. Online ahead of print.
Patel V, Aboud O, Barakat A.Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Oct 16;26(20):10065. doi: 10.3390/ijms262010065.
Pituitary surgery
Global Growth and Distribution of CyberKnife Stereotactic Radiosurgery: A Bibliometric Analysis.
Annagiri S, Hori YS, Persad ARL, Ustrzynski L, Emrich SC, Tayag A, Park DJ, Adler JR, Chang SD.Neurosurg Pract. 2025 Jul 10;6(3):e000150. doi: 10.1227/neuprac.0000000000000150. eCollection 2025 Sep.
Imaging
Korbecki A, Łukasiewicz M, Kacała A, Sobański M, Zdanowicz-Ratajczyk A, Szałata K, Dorochowicz M, Korbecka J, Trybek G, Zimny A, Bladowska J.J Clin Med. 2025 Oct 11;14(20):7168. doi: 10.3390/jcm14207168.
Yonar A.Sci Rep. 2025 Oct 28;15(1):37543. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-23820-3.
Acromegaly
Sun Y, Lu D, Gao J.Drug Discov Ther. 2025 Oct 29. doi: 10.5582/ddt.2025.01109. Online ahead of print.
Stanciu M, Cătană A, Ristea RP, Tanasescu D, Carsote M, Popa FL, Lebădă IC.Diagnostics (Basel). 2025 Oct 17;15(20):2623. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics15202623.
Cushing’s
Three Cases of Ectopic, Cyclic Cushing Syndrome: A New Square Wave Variant.
Martinez-Gil M, Tshimbombu TN, Li Yi Ang Y, Rodriguez MC, Yuen KCJ.JCEM Case Rep. 2025 Oct 28;3(12):luaf176. doi: 10.1210/jcemcr/luaf176. eCollection 2025 Dec.
Selective Hippocampal Subfield Atrophy Mediates Cognitive Decline in Cushing’s Disease.
Feng Z, Zhou T, Yan X, He K, Liu H, Yu X, Lu R, Ma Z, Yu X, Zhang Y.Brain Behav. 2025 Nov;15(11):e71030. doi: 10.1002/brb3.71030.
Hormonal health
Pellegrini B, Cantaluppi V, Aimaretti G, Ferraresso M, Romagnoli J, Silvestre C, Comai G, Maggiore U, Leone F, Greco R, Maggiolini M, Provenzano M, Zaza G; Joint Committee of the Italian Society of Organ Transplantation and the Italian Society of Nephrology.J Endocrinol Invest. 2025 Oct 29. doi: 10.1007/s40618-025-02741-y. Online ahead of print.
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