A craniopharyngioma is a relatively rare, benign tumor that develops near the pituitary gland at the base of the brain. Craniopharyngiomas occur in both adults and children and affect males and females equally.
Although they’re benign, craniopharyngiomas can behave a bit like malignancies — when they grow they can press on and sometimes invade nearby healthy brain tissue. They can press on the optic nerves and cause problems with vision or invade the hypothalamus and pituitary gland and cause problems with hormones. (see Symptoms of Craniopharyngioma). The tumor can usually be successfully removed surgically, but it sometimes recurs and so patients must be monitored carefully in the years after surgery (see Surgery for a Craniopharyngioma). However, with complete surgical removal, craniopharyngiomas can be cured and the goal of treatment is either cure or lifelong tumor control.
What Causes Craniopharyngiomas?
Researchers don’t know exactly how or why these tumors occur, but they are thought to develop out of cells left over during fetal development — possibly from a structure called the Rathke pouch. There does not seem to be any genetic cause, and the tumors don’t run in families. There is no known way to prevent a craniopharyngioma.
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Dr. Theodore Schwartz: Minimally Invasive Endoscopic Surgery for Pituitary Tumors, Brain Tumors, and Epilepsy
I’ve traveled around the world to dozens of professional conferences and courses — in China, India, Egypt, and more — to train many neurosurgeons in advanced techniques for treating skull base tumors. But my past two summers in Mexico have provided...
Our Care Team
- Chairman and Neurosurgeon-in-Chief
- Margaret and Robert J. Hariri, MD ’87, PhD ’87 Professor of Neurological Surgery
- Vice Provost of Business Affairs and Integration
Phone: 212-746-4684
- Vice Chair for Clinical Research
- David and Ursel Barnes Professor in Minimally Invasive Surgery
- Professor of Neurosurgery, Neurology, and Otolaryngology
- Director, Center for Epilepsy and Pituitary Surgery
- Co-Director, Surgical Neuro-oncology
Phone: 212-746-5620
- Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery
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- Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute
Phone: 646-962-3389
- Assistant Professor of Neuroendocrinology in Neurological Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine
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- Vice Chairman for Academic Affairs
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- Professor of Clinical Neurological Surgery
- Robert G. Schwager, MD ’67 Education Scholar, Cornell University
Phone: 212-746-2438
- Chief of Neurological Surgery, NewYork-Presbyterian Queens
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Phone: (718) 670-1837
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- Vice Chairman, Neurological Surgery
- Director, Pediatric Neurological Surgery
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Phone: 718-780-5176
Reviewed by: Theodore Schwartz, M.D.
Last reviewed/last updated: September 2023
Illustration by Thom Graves, CMI