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Endocrine Abstracts (2015) 37 EP701 | DOI: 10.1530/endoabs.37.EP701

1Endocrinology and Nutrition Unit, Institute of Biomedicine of Sevilla (IBiS), Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío/CSIC/Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain; 2Neurosurgery Unit, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla, Spain; 3Radiology Unit, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla, Spain.


Pituitary adenomas are usually benign. However, a significant number of pituitary adenomas show an aggressive behaviour, with local invasion, increased risk of recurrence after surgery and lack of therapeutic response. In this study, we aimed to determine whether invasive and non-invasive pituitary adenomas display differences in clinical features and molecular parameters. In this retrospective descriptive study, 46 pituitary adenomas were analysed. Invasiveness was defined as invasion of surrounding structures like cavernous or sphenoidal sinus on the basis of magnetic resonance imaging and surgical findings. Clinical variables, histological subtype and need for radiotherapy were collected. Quantitative PCR was used to measure the expression of several membrane receptors important for pituitary function: somatostatin receptors (SSTR1–SSTR5), dopamine receptors (DR1-DR5) including the long isoform of dopamine D2 receptor 2, GHRHR, GHSRS1, GHSRS1b, proliferation genes (ki67 and PTTG1) and housekeeping genes (HPRT, GAPDH and β-actin). 30 invasive pituitary adenomas (63.3% non-functioning; 23.3% GH-producing; 13.3% ACTH-producing) and 16 non-invasive adenomas (37.5% non-functioning; 43.8% GH-producing; 18.75% ACTH-producing) were analysed. No significant differences were observed in age and sex between invasive and non-invasive adenomas. Growth of tumour remnants (P<0,0001) and need for radiotherapy (P=0.016) was higher in invasive adenomas. Only SSTR3 (P=0.043), the long isoform of dopamine D2 receptor 2 (P=0.048) and PTTG1 (P=0.029) display significant differences between invasive and non-invasive adenomas. SSTR1 (P=0.007), dopamine D2 receptor (P=0.019) and PTTG1 (P=0.039) expression was higher in histological subtypes of aggressive pituitary adenomas. Our preliminary results indicate that invasive pituitary adenomas display differences in clinical features and gene expression. It remains to be determined whether these differences in gene expression might represent a mechanistic link to the invasion process.

Disclosure: This work was supported by Spanish Ministry of Health, ISCIII (grants PI13/02043) and by the Andalusian Regional Ministry of Science and Innovation (CTS-7478).

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