M.D. A curable brain tumor can cause women to have irregular periods, be infertile or have milk in their breasts without being pregnant, and men to be impotent, infertile, and have no sexual desire, or have large breasts. All people with any of these symptoms should get a blood test called prolactin. If you have this brain tumor and don't get treatment, you can develop osteoporosis or lose your ability to ever have a child.
Pregnancy helps to control prolactinomas.
All people with elevated prolactin levels need a special MRI or cat scan of the brain to see how big the tumor is. Almost always you won't need surgery unless the tumor presses on a nerve to cause loss of function such as blindness. Surgery is not as effective as taking a pill and results in death one percent of the time it is done. Surgery and radiation can even cause this benign tumor to become malignant. Clinical presentation of hyperprolactinemia.