Vascular endothelial growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor: novel markers in pituitary tumors

ABSTRACT

Twenty-four male patients with pituitary adenomas [mean age 39.9 +/- 11.2 years] were enrolled in this study. Microadenoma was present in 14 patients, while the other 10 patients had macroadenoma as diagnosed by the different imaging techniques. All patients were subjected to complete clinical examination and laboratory investigations including serum prolactin [PRL], human growth hormone [hGH], thyroid stimulating hormone [TSH], follicle stimulating hormone [FSH], luteinizing hormone [LH] and cortisol. In addition, an assessment of vascular endothelial growth factor [VEGF] and basic fibroblast growth factor [bFGF] serum levels was also done. The results were compared with those of 20 healthy age-matched control subjects. The study concluded that the elevated serum levels of both VEGF and bFGF in pituitary tumor patients indicated that both growth factors could serve as novel tumor markers for the diagnosis of pituitary tumors. Moreover, the combination of these two markers provides an additional predictive value for the presence of the disease. This is likely to have its impact on the therapeutic management of these patients, especially in view of their documented synergistic action