Receptor tyrosine kinase expression in NFPA

Non-functioning
pituitary adenomas (NFPA) account for approximately one third of all pituitary
adenomas. These tumors may be locally invasive and also recurrent. Markers of
recurrence are needed to guide patient management. Recteptor Tyrosina Kinases
(RTK) may sereve as prognostic and therapeutic marker. To examine differential
RTK phosphorylation pattern of recurrent NFPAs, we recruited 20 patients and
grouped them as non-recurrent (n=10), and recurrent (n=10).Follow-up of 15
years was used to determine the recurrence. We then performed a membrane-based
antibody array (ARY001B) for the parallel determination of the relative
phosphorylation of 49 tyrosine kinases in recurrent NFPAs. As the experiment
was replicated on two set of membranes, each tyrosine kinase was represented in
quadruples. Student’s t-test was performed to compare the mean between two
groups.