Heaney A P, Melmed S
Department of Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Research Institute, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California 90048, USA.
Endocr Relat Cancer. 2000 Mar;7(1):3-15. doi: 10.1677/erc.0.0070003.
Pituitary tumors are common monoclonal neoplasms which cause considerable morbidity and mortality. Several molecular events underlying pituitary tumorigenesis have been elucidated in recent years, but no tumor marker has clearly emerged which assists clinical and therapeutic decisions. Activating mutations and loss of inactivating mutations, together with hypothalamic hormones, circulating hormones, growth factors and cytokines cooperatively ensure the inexorable expansion of the initial mutated pituitary cell clone. This review describes new developments in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of pituitary tumors. The availability of molecular probes will allow the early prediction of tumor behavior, identify targets for designing subcellular pituitary tumor therapy and provide novel approaches to pituitary tumor management.
垂体肿瘤是常见的单克隆性肿瘤，可导致相当高的发病率和死亡率。近年来，已经阐明了垂体肿瘤发生的几个分子事件，但尚未明确出现有助于临床和治疗决策的肿瘤标志物。激活突变和失活突变的缺失，与下丘脑激素、循环激素、生长因子和细胞因子共同协作，确保最初突变的垂体细胞克隆不可阻挡地增殖。本综述描述了我们对垂体肿瘤发病机制中涉及的分子机制的新认识。分子探针的可用性将有助于早期预测肿瘤行为，确定设计亚细胞垂体肿瘤治疗的靶点，并为垂体肿瘤的管理提供新方法。
