ANALYSIS OF THE INTERRELATION OF THE VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR WITH PITUITARY ADENOMAS COMPLICATED BY PITUITARY APOPLEXY
Aim. Despite the fact that the pituitary adenoma is a relatively benign tumor, sometimes the course of the disease is complicated by intramedullary hemorrhage. In the world literature there are single data on the molecular mechanism of hemorrhage in the adenomas of the pituitary gland. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays an important role in angiogenesis and permeability of the endothelium in various brain tumors. There was made an analysis of the relationship between pituitary apoplexy and VEGF expression in pituitary adenomas. Material and methods. Immunohistochemical investigation of the level of expression of the molecular-biological marker - VEGF was performed with the use of monoclonal antibodies with the method of semiquantitative analysis in 30 pituitary adenoma patients. In the clinical study data about the age, gender, hormonal activity and X-ray study were studied. There was executed a statistical analysis of the relationship between clinical diagnostic data and VEGF expression. Results. Hormonal active tumors were detected in 12 (40%) cases, intratumoral hemorrhage - in 16 (53.3%), adenomas with cystic component - in 7 (23.3%) and invasion of cavernous sinus - in 22 (73.3%) of cases. Expression of VEGF was observed in 11 cases (36.6%). Based on the analysis the expression of VEGF was found to be closely related to pituitary apoplexy (PA) in pituitary adenomas (p < 0.001). However, there was no statistically significant relationship between VEGF and age, sex, tumor size, hormonal activity, cystic component presence, invasive tumor growth (p > 0.05). Conclusion. It was found that immunohistochemical examination of the level of expression of a molecular biological marker VEGF can be used in the evaluation of the prognosis of the disease or the identification of a risk group with a high probability of the development of pituitary apoplexy and recurrence of tumor growth.