Expression of epithelial cadherin and cavernous sinus invasion in human pituitary adenomas

Pituitary adenomas generally are regarded as benign tumors,although some invade the cavernous sinus and recur.We examined the epithelial cadherin (E-CD) expression in30 pituitary adenomas (6 with cavernous sinus invasionand 24 without). Immunoreactivity of E-CD were foundin all pituitary adenomas but they were veryvarious. The presence of an association between E-CDexpression and cavernous sinus invasion was assessed. Therewere no significant differences in E-CD expression betweeninvasive and noninvasive adenomas. These results suggest thatE-CD expression is not associated with cavernous sinusinvasion in pituitary adenomas.