S-3.3 Recent evidence of putative human pituitary adenoma tumour stem cells

Tullio Florio from the University of Genova, Italy

Several studies have identified potential stem cell subpopulations in normal pituitary which express the chemokine and receptor pair CXCL12/CXCR4. This ligand/receptor pair have been shown to over express in both secreting and non functioning human pituitary adenoma cells in vitro and are believed to sustain tumour cell proliferation. These cells may represent a potential new target population in the treatment of pituitary adenoma.