Molecular mechanisms of pituitary tumorigenesis were studied using Polymerase chain reaction-single stranded conformational polymorphism with DNA sequencing to identify potential mutations in the ras protooncogenes and the tumor suppressor gene p53 in invasive pituitary adenomas and carcinomas. Sequencing of exons 5 through 8 of the p53 gene revealed no mutations, nor were mutations detected in the N- or K-ras protooncogenes in four of the carcinomas and their respective metastatic deposits. Point mutations of H-ras however, were identified in three distant metastatic pituitary tumor secondaries, but not in their respective primary pituitary carcinomas, or in six invasive adenomas. Two of the mutations included a G to C substitution at codon 12, and a G to A substitution at codon 18, resulting in a glycine to arginine, and an alanine to threonine change at these amino acids, respectively. A third mutation involved a single base pair (adenine) deletion in codon 3 of H-ras which causes a frame shift, resulting in a termination signal at codon 19. These results suggest that point mutations in p53 and ras are not associated with pituitary tumorigenesis, however, point mutations of the H-ras gene may be important in the formation and or growth of pituitary metastases. This observed genomic instability will be of value in predicting the potential metastatic behavior of these aggressive pituitary tumors.