Carcinomas of the pituitary: definition and review of the literature.

Pituitary carcinomas are defined by their disconnected mode of extension, i.e. by the existence of intra- or extra-cerebral metastases. Since an invasive growth in the sella and its neighboring regions can also be noted in many pituitary adenomas, this invasion cannot be counted as a criterion for malignancy. Almost all pituitary carcinomas stem from previously operated or irradiated invasive adenomas. Like adenomas, they are classified with regard to the presumable cell of origin and the hormone which was produced contingently. Together with 67 pituitary carcinomas already published, three own cases are subject to a critical, summarizing judgement.