Cancer metastases in the pituitary gland.

Metastases to the pituitary gland is a rare complication of systemic cancer in adults (does not practically occur in children). In 1857 L.Benjamin was the first who described a case of metastasis to the pituitary gland at autopsy of a patient with disseminated melanoma. Metastases in the pituitary gland are marked in 0,14-28,1% of all metastases to the brain in several series of autopsies. Many researchers consider that metastases in the pituitary gland are met in 1% of patients who underwent transsphenoidal surgery and 5% of autopsies.