Studies on Tumor Metastasis Vii. Metastasis to the Pineal Gland

Reports of tumor metastasis to the pineal gland are exceptionally rare, perhaps because of little systematic post-mortem study. Primary tumors are apparently much more frequent and have been carefully studied (1). The first instance of metastasis is that reported by Forster (2) of Gottingen in 1858. The patient was a thirty-seven-year-old male with cancer of the lung (possibly esophagus) and widespread -metastases which included the pineal gland. The pineal was reported the size of a small hazelnut. Its microscopic appearance was not described. In the next case, reported by Church (3) in 1869, the primary tumor was also apparently a cancer of the lung which was widely disseminated. In the course of a discussion of splenic metastases, di Biasi (4) mentioned involvement of the pineal by metastasis from cancer of the breast in a sixtynine-year-old female. This carcinoma was recurrent and involved the lymphatic channels of both the pleura and the lungs, with metastases to the spleen, bone, kidney, adrenals, lymph nodes, pelvis, mediastinum, axillary and cervical regions, thyroid, pituitary, and the pineal. In none of these three reported cases is any change referable to disturbed physiology of the pineal gland noted. In view of the rarity of this condition, the report of an additional case appears justified.