Double Primary Intracranial Tumors: Report of Two Cases

ABSTRACT

The simultaneous occurrence of multiple primary brain tumors of histologically different types is very rare, and accounts for only about 0.4% of all the primary brain tumors. Recently, we experienced two cases of double primary intracranial tumors in combinations of meningioma-glioblastoma and pituitary adenoma-lymphoma. First case is a 55-year-old woman who underwent surgery due to a mass in her left posterior parietal area detected by brain magnetic resonance imaging(MRI), and it was histologically confirmed as atypical meningioma. After radiation treatment, a new mass was detected in the right temporal lobe on follow-up MRI and glioblastoma was confirmed after the second operation. Second case is a 50-year-old woman who was found to have multiple masses in the suprasellar and right thalamic region. They were confirmed as pituitary adenoma and malignant lymphoma by transsphenoidal adenoidectomy (TSA) and stereotactic biopsy, respectively. Case 1 and 2 showed metachronous and synchronous development of secondary intracranial tumors, respectively. In case one, although the patient received radiotherapy, the radiation field was far from the second tumor and the latency period between irradiation and the appearance of the second tumor was too short. Therefore, in this case, we concluded that radiation did not play a major role in the development of the new tumor.