Pain relief in metastatic cancer other than breast and prostate gland following transsphenoidal hypophysectomy

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Abstract
Hypophysectomy was performed in 6 patients with advanced carcinoma other than from breast and prostate gland to alleviate pain. Two patients received significant and lasting relief of pain; 1 achieved relief but died from progression of disease 5 wk after surgery; 1 patient, initially relieved, had recurrence of pain 3 mo. later; 1 had about 50% relief and 1 received no benefit. Possible mechanisms for pain relief include changes in pituitary hormones, prostaglandins and the newly isolated brain peptides, .alpha.- and .beta.-endorphin. These preliminary observations will require further critical evaluation in a larger series to determine the effectiveness of hypophysectomy in relieving pain in cancer other than from the breast and prostate. The results imply that a different approach to pain, namely endocrine manipulation, may be beneficial in certain cancer patients.

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