Sellar gangliocytoma with adrenocorticotropic and prolactin adenoma

Abstract

We report a case of a 60-year-old man who presented with weight gain, headaches, dizziness, erectile dysfunction and decreased libido. He was found to have elevated adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and prolactin serum levels. The imaging studies revealed a 1.4cm sella/suprasellar mass which was compressing the optic chiasm. Histologic slides of the lesion showed a pituitary adenoma, marked by a proliferation of biphenotypic appearing cells, associated with a gangliocytoma, and marked by a proliferation of atypical appearing neuronal cells arranged against a glial-appearing background. Pituitary adenoma-gangliocytomas are benign combination tumors that rarely occur in the sellar region. Adenomas in this setting are sometimes functional, and rare patients with mixed adenomas (adenomas secreting more than one hormone) have been reported. To our knowledge, there has been only one other report of a combined ACTH and prolactin-producing adenoma with gangliocytoma, reported in a patient who also had acromegaly. In our patient, the immunohistochemical stains demonstrated that the bulk of the adenoma cells stained with prolactin antibody, and scattered clusters of cells within the adenoma stained positively for ACTH. The adenoma did not stain with antibodies to any of the other anterior pituitary hormones. Postoperatively, the elevated prolactin and ACTH levels returned to normal levels and there was no evidence of residual tumor. Adequate sampling and immunohistochemistry are important in rendering a correct diagnosis and in identifying the hormone status of mixed adenoma-gangliocytomas.