TY - JOUR T1 - Hypothalamic-Pituitary Axis Dysfunction after Whole Brain Radiotherapy – A Cohort Study JF - Anticancer Research JO - Anticancer Res SP - 5787 LP - 5792 DO - 10.21873/anticanres.14595 VL - 40 IS - 10 AU - JUDITH GEBAUER AU - PREENA MEHTA AU - FABIAN B. FAHLBUSCH AU - SEBASTIAN M. SCHMID AU - DIRK RADES AU - STEFAN JANSSEN Y1 - 2020/10/01 UR - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/40/10/5787.abstract N2 - Background/Aim: Hypothalamic-pituitary (HT-P) dysfunction is one of the most common endocrine late effects following cranial radiotherapy. However, there are currently no specific data describing this complication in adult-onset cancer patients after whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT). The present cohort study aims to establish the prevalence of HT-P axis dysfunction in this group of patients. Patients and Methods: Twenty-six cancer patients previously treated with WBRT (median follow-up=20.5 months) received standardized endocrine check-up focusing on HT-P function. Results: In 50% of the patients, impaired hypothalamic-pituitary function was detected during follow-up. While functional loss of a single hormonal axis was evident in 34.6% of patients, 7.7% showed an impairment of multiple endocrine axes, and one patient developed adrenocorticotropic hormone deficiency. Hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction did not directly correlate with the applied WBRT total doses. Conclusion: In our cohort, hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction appeared to be common after WBRT and was diagnosed as early as 6 months following radiation. This finding highlights the need for routine endocrine follow-up even in patients with limited life expectancy. ER -