Intracranial metastases to the pineal region. Report of three cases.

The pineal region is one of the rarest sites in the brain for metastatic involvement of systemic malignant tumors. A review of the literature shows that approximately 70 such cases have been reported previously, and most of them were diagnosed by autopsy. In this brief report we describe three cases of isolated intracranial metastasis to the pineal region that were diagnosed in patients alive. Although occurring rarely, metastatic lesions should be considered in the differential diagnosis of pineal region tumors.