The role of E and N-cadherin in the postoperative course of gonadotroph pituitary tumours

• Published in: Endocrine 2018-11, Vol.62 (2), p.351-360
• Main Authors: Øystese, Kristin Astrid Berland, Berg, Jens Petter, Normann, Kjersti Ringvoll, Zucknick, Manuela, Casar-Borota, Olivera, Bollerslev, Jens
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adenoma - diagnosis; Adenoma - pathology; Adenoma - surgery; Aged; Aggressiveness; Antigens, CD - physiology; Biomarkers, Tumor - physiology; Brain tumors; Cadherin; Cadherins - physiology; Cohort Studies; Diabetes; E-cadherin; EMT; Endocrine Surgery; Endocrinology; Female; Gonadotroph pituitary tumours; Gonadotrophs - pathology; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Immunoreactivity; Internal Medicine; Intracellular; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; mRNA; multidisciplinary; N-Cadherin; Pathology; Patologi; PitNET; Pituitary; Pituitary (anterior); Pituitary adenomas; Pituitary Neoplasms - diagnosis; Pituitary Neoplasms - pathology; Pituitary Neoplasms - surgery; Postoperative Period; Prognosis; Retrospective Studies; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Science; Surgery; Treatment Outcome; Tumors
• ISSN: 1355-008X; 1559-0100; 1559-0100
• DOI: 10.1007/s12020-018-1679-0

Purpose Gonadotroph tumours are the most abundant of the clinically silent pituitary tumours. There is a lack of reliable prognostic markers predicting their clinical course. Our aim was to determine the level of E-cadherin and N-cadherin in a cohort of clinically silent gonadotroph pituitary tumours, and compare them to the rate of reintervention. Methods Tumour tissue from primary surgery was retrospectively investigated and compared with clinical data. Immunohistochemical ( N  = 105) and real time-qPCR ( N  = 85) analyses for the levels of N-cadherin and the extra- and intracellular domains of E-cadherin were performed. The immunoreactive scores (IRS) and mRNA relative quantity were compared to the rate of reintervention. Results The tumours presented a high IRS for N-cadherin (Median 12 (IQR 12-12)) and almost no immunoreactivity for the extracellular domain of E-cadherin (Median 0 (IQR 0-0)). The membranous staining for the intracellular domain of E-cadherin varied (Median 6 (IQR 4-6). Reduced membranous expression of the intracellular domain of E-cadherin was associated with nuclear presence of the same domain. Nuclear staining for the intracellular domain of E-cadherin was associated with a lower rate of reintervention ( p  = 0.01). Conclusion We found that silent gonadotroph tumours presented high IRS for N-cadherin and low IRS for the extracellular domain of E-cadherin. A substantial proportion of the tumours presented nuclear staining for the intracellular domain of E-cadherin, accompanied by a reduced membranous expression of the intracellular domain of E-cadherin. Absence of nuclear staining for the intracellular domain of E-cadherin served as an independent predictor of reintervention.