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Pituitary Carcinoma

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Pathology

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Pathology ((EP))

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Synonyms

Malignant pituitary tumor; Metastatic pituitary neuroendocrine tumor

Definition

The term carcinoma has been restricted in the pituitary to a tumor of adenohypophysial cells that exhibits cerebrospinal and/or systemic metastasis (DeLellis et al. 2004; Lloyd et al. 2017).

Clinical Features

  • Incidence

    Pituitary carcinoma represents around 0.4% of surgically resected adenohypophysial tumors (Alshaikh et al. 2019).

  • Age

    This rare tumor has been reported at any adult age.

  • Sex

    There is no gender predilection.

  • Site

    Pituitary neuroendocrine tumors usually arise in the sella turcica. Metastatic foci that have been reported in pituitary carcinomas include dissemination to multiple cerebrospinal sites, lymph nodes (usually in the neck), liver, lungs, and bone in multiple locations, most commonly spine (Asa and Perry 2020).

  • Clinical and Biochemical Features

    The initial clinical presentation is usually that of a pituitary neuroendocrine tumor; patients have presented with the signs and...

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References and Further Reading

  • Alshaikh, O. M., Asa, S. L., Mete, O., & Ezzat, S. (2019). An institutional experience of tumor progression to pituitary carcinoma in a 15 year cohort of 1055 consecutive pituitary neuroendocrine tumors. Endocrine Pathology, 30(2), 118–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asa, S. L., & Perry, A. (2020). Tumors of the pituitary gland (AFIP atlas of tumor pathology, series 5). Silver Spring: ARP Press.

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  • DeLellis, R. A., Lloyd, R. V., Heitz, P. U., & Eng, C. (2004). Pathology and genetics of tumors of endocrine organs. Lyons: IARC Press.

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  • Lloyd, R. V., Osamura, R. Y., Kloppel, G., & Rosai, J. (2017). WHO classification of tumors of endocrine organs (4th ed.). Lyon: IARC.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University Hospitals, Cleveland Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Sylvia L. Asa

Authors
  1. Sylvia L. Asa
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sylvia L. Asa .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. NIJMEGEN, The Netherlands

    J.H.J.M. van Krieken

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Asa, S.L. (2020). Pituitary Carcinoma. In: van Krieken, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Pathology. Encyclopedia of Pathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28845-1_5049-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28845-1_5049-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28845-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28845-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference MedicineReference Module Medicine

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