Adenocarcinoma of the salivary gland metastatic to the pituitary gland: case report.

OBJECTIVE AND

IMPORTANCE

A case of metastasis to the pituitary gland from a ductal adenocarcinoma of the salivary gland is presented. Metastasis to this site is rare, and a salivary gland source has never previously been described.

CLINICAL PRESENTATION: This patient presented with hypopituitarism, including diabetes insipidus.

INTERVENTION: A craniotomy was performed to alleviate visual loss. The histological features of the sellar tumor were identical to those of a tumor removed from the parotid gland 18 months earlier.

CONCLUSION

Although intrasellar tumors originating from embryonic rests of salivary gland tissue have been reported, metastasis from a malignant neoplasm arising within a true salivary gland is also possible and should not be excluded from consideration for patients in whom a salivary gland-like tumor is discovered in the sella turcica.