Selective molecular biomarkers to predict biologic behavior in pituitary tumors

Aydin Sav; Fabio Rotondo; Luis V Syro; Meric A Altinoz; Kalman Kovacs

doi:10.1080/17446651.2017.1312341

Selective molecular biomarkers to predict biologic behavior in pituitary tumors

Expert Rev Endocrinol Metab. 2017 May;12(3):177-185. doi: 10.1080/17446651.2017.1312341. Epub 2017 Apr 3.

Authors

Aydin Sav¹, Fabio Rotondo², Luis V Syro³, Meric A Altinoz⁴, Kalman Kovacs²

Affiliations

¹ a Division of Neuropathology , Nisantasi Pathology Group , Istanbul , Turkey.
² b Department of Laboratory Medicine, Division of Pathology, St. Michael's Hospital , University of Toronto , Toronto , ON , Canada.
³ c Department of Neurosurgery , Hospital Pablo Tobon Uribe and Clinica Medellin , Medellin , Colombia.
⁴ d Department of Immunology, Experimental Medical Research Institute , Istanbul University , Istanbul , Turkey.

PMID: 30063456
DOI: 10.1080/17446651.2017.1312341

Abstract

To date, several cell proliferation markers, apoptosis, vascular markers, oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, cell cycle mediators, microRNA (miRNAs), and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been identified to be involved in the tumorigenesis, migration, proliferation and invasiveness of pituitary adenomas. There are still no reliable morphologic markers predictive of pituitary adenoma recurrence. Recent scientific research introduced new techniques to enable us to attain new information on the genesis and biologic behavior of pituitary adenomas. Areas covered: This review covers selected, compelling and cumulative information in regards to TACSTD family (EpCAM, TROP2), neuropilin (NRP-1), oncogene-induced senescence (OIS), fascins (FSCN1), invasion-associated genes (CLDN7, CNTNAP2, ITGA6, JAM3, PTPRC and CTNNA1) EZH2, and ENC1 genes and endocan. Expert commentary: Ongoing research provides clinicians, surgeons and researchers with new information not only on diverse pathways in tumorigenesis but also on the clinical aggressive behavior of pituitary adenomas. Newly developed molecular techniques, bioinformatics and new pharmaceutical drug options are helpful tools to widen the perspectives in our understanding of the complex nature of pituitary tumorigenesis. The discovery of new molecular biomarkers can only be accomplished by continuing to investigate pituitary embryogenesis, histogenesis and tumorigenesis.

Keywords: ENC1 gene; EZH2; FSCN1; TACSTD family (EpCAM; TROP2); endocan; invasion-associated genes; molecular biomarkers; neuropilin (NRP-1); oncogene-induced senescence; pituitary adenoma.