Pituitary Metastasis in Lung Cancer Patients: Case Series and Review of the Literature

The pituitary gland is an uncommon site of tumor metastasis and is predominantly associated with malignancies of the lung and breast. Metastatic involvement of the pituitary gland in lung cancer (LC) typically indicates advanced disease and is associated with poor prognosis and pituitary insufficiency, which often remains underdiagnosed and significantly affects quality of life and survival. We present four cases of pituitary metastasis (PM) originating from LC, characterized by distinct histological subtypes, variable timing from initial diagnosis, and diverse clinical manifestations. Clinical presentation was heterogeneous: two patients had involvement of both pituitary lobes with multiple pituitary hormone deficiencies, one had anterior lobe involvement with anterior pituitary deficiency following immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated hypophysitis, and one remained asymptomatic. Therapeutic approaches included partial surgical resection followed by radiotherapy in two patients and radiotherapy alone in the other two; all patients continued systemic antineoplastic therapy and received hormone replacement as indicated. Mean overall survival was 7.5 months. PM can occur across all histological subtypes of LC and typically signifies advanced disease with poor prognosis. Early identification and appropriate management of hypopituitarism may improve quality of life and clinical outcomes.