Pituitary carcinoma diagnosed on fine needle aspiration: Report of a case and review of pathogenesis

Abstract

Pituitary carcinoma (PC) is a very rare entity (0.2% of all pituitary tumors), with only about 140 cases reported in English literature. There are no reliable histological, immunohistochemical or ultrastructural features distinguishing pituitary adenoma (PA) from PC. By definition, a diagnosis of PC is made after a patient with PA develops non-contiguous central nervous system (CNS) or systemic metastases. To date, only three cases of PC have been reportedly diagnosed on fine needle aspiration (FNA). Two of the reported cases were diagnosed on FNA of the cervical lymph nodes and one on FNA of the vertebral bone lesion. Herein, we present a case of PC, diagnosed on FNA of the liver lesion. In this case, we describe cytologic features of PC and compare them to histologic features of the tumor in the pituitary. Clinical behavior of tumor, pathogenesis of metastasis and immunochemical and prognostic markers will also be described.