title: Pituitary lymphoma developing within pituitary adenoma.
abstract: Lymphoma occurring in the pituitary gland is an exceedingly infrequent event. Here, we describe a case of pituitary lymphoma complicating recurrent pituitary adenoma. A 56-year-old male with a history of pituitary adenoma was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) of the left ocular adnexa, which was successfully treated by standard chemotherapy and local radiotherapy. Eight months later, he complained of diplopia and bitemporal hemianopia. Brain magnetic resonance imaging detected a suprasellar tumor. Transsphenoidal biopsy of the mass was performed, and histopathological examination revealed DLBCL admixed with pituitary adenoma. On a review of the literature, we found that pituitary lymphoma developing within adenoma is a recurrent phenomenon. The composite tumor is likely to be characterized by suprasellar involvement and presentation of visual disturbances. Moreover, in the present case, the suprasellar tumor remained visible after autologous peripheral stem cell transplant, likely due to the residual pituitary adenoma. We therefore recommend that refractory pituitary lymphoma should be vigorously biopsied in search of possibly underlying adenoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.forename: Fumihiko
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Yasuhiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kamikubo
authors.forename: Naoaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mizuno
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyauchi
authors.forename: Go
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Yasuhito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nannya
authors.forename: Motoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ichikawa
authors.forename: Mineo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurokawa
mesh_terms: D000236:Adenoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D016403:Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016609:Neoplasms, Second Primary / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D059906:Neuroimaging; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000473:pathology; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography