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Atypical pituitary adenoma with malignant features

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Abstract

Pituitary carcinoma is characterized by the presence of systemic or central nervous system metastases rather than malignant histological features, making it an anomaly amongst carcinomas. In contrast, aggressive or atypical pituitary adenomas often have a relatively bland histological appearance despite their malignant growth patterns. We now report a case of a 67-years-old male with a giant pituitary tumor with overt pathologic and phenotypic features of malignancy, but the absence of metastases, that evolved from a benign non-functioning gonadotroph macroadenoma treated 10 years earlier. This case represents the first report of a pituitary adenoma with overt malignant histology that does not meet criteria for classification as pituitary carcinoma, helping to complete the pathological spectrum of disease observed with pituitary tumors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Pituitary Center, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 8631 W. 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90048, USA

    Adam N. Mamelak

  2. Department of Endocrinology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    John D. Carmichael, Patricia Park & H. Vivien Bonert

  3. Department of Pathology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Sergei Bannykh & Xuemo Fan

Authors
  1. Adam N. Mamelak
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  2. John D. Carmichael
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  3. Patricia Park
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  4. Sergei Bannykh
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  5. Xuemo Fan
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  6. H. Vivien Bonert
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Correspondence to Adam N. Mamelak.

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Mamelak, A.N., Carmichael, J.D., Park, P. et al. Atypical pituitary adenoma with malignant features. Pituitary 14, 92–97 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11102-008-0151-1

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