Transsphenoidal hypophysectomy in disseminated breast cancer.

Sixty patients with metastatic breast cancer had transsphenoidal hypophysectomy at Emory University Hospital. Median survival for the entire group was ten months. Survival was increased (longer than 14 months) in good responders as compared to nonresponders (three months). Pain was significantly relieved in the majority of those patients who had severe pain. Operative complications were minimal. The technic of transsphenoidal hypophysectomy offers a substantial chance of objective and subjective palliation with minimal morbidity in advanced breast cancer.