A rare case of metastatic colon cancer to the pineal region: A case report

Abstract

Background: Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer and the third most leading cause of death in the United States with brain being a rare site for metastasis and the pineal region being a rarer site to manifest.

Case description: We present a rare case of a 72-year-old male patient with pineal region tumor and obstructive hydrocephalus for which an endoscopic third ventriculostomy was done with biopsy of the tumor showing primary colorectal origin in a patient known to be previously healthy.

Conclusion: Intracranial metastasis to the pineal region is considered rare especially in cases without widely spread systematic cancer or without presence of other metastatic lesions in the brain. The case we presented suggests that we should consider pineal region metastasis as part of our differential whenever we encounter patients with an isolated pineal lesion. Endoscopic third ventriculostomy can be a better treatment option to treat obstructive hydrocephalus caused by the lesion potentially avoiding peritoneal dissemination.