Abstract
Incidence estimates for pituitary adenomas vary widely, suggesting the effects of numerous risk factors or varying levels of tumor surveillance. We studied the epidemiology of pituitary adenomas using 2004–2007 data collected by 17 Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Programs in the United States (N = 8,276). We observed that incidence rates generally increased with age and were higher in females in early life and higher in males in later life. Males are diagnosed with larger tumors on average than females. Diagnosis may be delayed for males, giving tumors a chance to grow larger before clinical detection. We also observed that American Blacks have higher incidence rates for pituitary adenomas compared with other ethnic groups. There are several potential explanations for this finding with some evidence that at least part of the effect may be due to differential diagnosis between races.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Brian J. Smith for statistical advice, Michele West for assistance with SEER*Stat, and two anonymous reviewers for helpful feedback on an earlier draft of this manuscript. This project was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (project numbers 5 P20 CA103672-05 and 5 P30 CA086862-10). Additional funding was provided by cooperative agreement number 5 U18 HSO16094 from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
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McDowell, B.D., Wallace, R.B., Carnahan, R.M. et al. Demographic differences in incidence for pituitary adenoma. Pituitary 14, 23–30 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11102-010-0253-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11102-010-0253-4