Pituitary metastasis: is there still a place for neurosurgical treatment ?

V. Gilard (1) , C. Alexandru (2) , F. Proust (1) , S. Derrey (1, 3, 4, 5) , P. Hannequin (1) , O. Langlois (6, 1)

1 Service de neurochirurgie [CHU Rouen]
2 CLCC Henri Becquerel - Centre de Lutte Contre le Cancer Henri Becquerel Normandie Rouen
3 ADEN - Nutrition, inflammation et dysfonctionnement de l'axe intestin-cerveau
4 IRIB - Institute for Research and Innovation in Biomedicine
5 UNIROUEN UFR Santé - UNIROUEN - UFR Santé
6 CHU Rouen

Pituitary metastases are uncommon, ranging from 1 to 5 % of all metastases. Between 10 and 30 % of pituitary lesions are symptomatic responsible for diabetes insipidus, visual field defect or cranial nerve palsy. Primary sites are lung or breast in two-thirds of cases. There is no current reference concerning treatment of such lesions. Overall survival is poor and depends on primary site. Although the role of surgery is currently limited, discussion is warranted in several indications for diagnostic or symptomatic purposes. We report two cases of symptomatic pituitary metastases in a context of breast cancer and review the litterature concerning the role of surgery and other treatment modalities.

Keywords: Pituitary gland- metastases; Surgical treatment

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Human health and pathology; Tissues and Organs [q-bio.TO]

V. Gilard, C. Alexandru, F. Proust, S. Derrey, P. Hannequin, et al.. Pituitary metastasis: is there still a place for neurosurgical treatment ?. Journal of Neuro-Oncology, 2016, 126 (2), pp.219-224. ⟨10.1007/s11060-015-1967-y⟩. ⟨hal-02379185⟩