Original article
Pituitary adenomas and craniopharyngiomas are CDX2 negative neoplasms

Objectives: Previous studies have shown an inverse correlation between the expression of CDX2 (also known as CDX3) and tumour grade, stage and lymph node dissemination in colorectal adenomas and adenocarcinomas. Although less frequent, expression of CDX2 has also been reported in various other epithelial tissues and carcinomas. While many neoplasms have been studied, to date, no data is available on CDX2 expression in craniopharyngiomas. Furthermore, only very few data are available on CDX2 expression in normal pituitary gland tissue and/or pituitary adenomas.
Material and methods: We investigated CDX2 expression in 28 normal pituitary glands, 75 pituitary adenomas of varying hormonal activity (including 7 invasive adenomas and 7 atypical adenomas) and 23 craniopharyngiomas (17 adamantinous and 6 papillary) in tissue microarrays.
Results: None of the pituitary adenomas, craniopharyngiomas and normal pituitary glands showed expression of CDX2.
Conclusions: There is no evidence for that CDX2 might play a role in tumourigenesis, invasive growth or tumour recurrence of pituitary adenomas or in tumourigenesis of craniopharyngiomas. But, presence of CDX2 expression might be useful in distinguishing intrasellar metastases from primary tumours of the sellar region.