Genome-Scale Profiling of DNA Methylation in Sporadic Pituitary Macroadenomas: Association with Tumor Invasion and Histopathological Subtype

The pathophysiologic mechanisms driving tumorigenesis and invasion of sporadic pituitary macroadenomas (PAs) remain unknown. We hypothesized that alterations in DNA methylation are associated with PA invasion and histopathology subtype, and that genome-scale methylation analysis may complement current classification methods for sporadic PAs. Twenty-four surgically-resected sporadic PAs with varying histopathological subtypes were assigned dichotomized Knosp invasion scores and examined using genome-wide DNA methylation patterns and RNA sequencing.