Metastases to primary intracranial meningiomas and neurilemomas

Five cases of carcinoma metastatic to intracranial meningioma or neurilemoma are presented and compared with 20 similar cases reported in the literature. The phenomenon was most often seen on autopsy (17 of 25 cases) and was found more commonly in females (3:2), with nearly 90% of donor cancers being found in breast or lung. The existence of the donor tumor, which was always found to be widely disseminated, was known prior to autopsy in only half the cases.