[Craniopharyngioma with malignant transformation--a report of two cases]

Two cases of a craniopharyngioma with malignant transformation are reported. Case 1 involved a 3-year-old male who had received a partial resection and radiotherapy for a suprasellar tumor. Histologically, a biopsy specimen showed craniopharyngioma. Eight years later, the child died of an intracerebral and nasopharyngeal invasion of the recurrent tumor. Case 2 involved a 9-year-old male who initially had been diagnosed as having a craniopharyngioma in the suprasellar region. Five years after the first operation, he died from growth of the tumor in spite of radiotherapy and a partial resection. The pathological examinations of these two cases showed an apparent transition of the craniopharyngioma into a squamous cell carcinoma.