A two‑circRNA signature predicts tumour recurrence in clinical non‑functioning pituitary adenoma

Abstract

Clinical non-functioning pituitary adenoma (NFPA) accounts for >30% of all pituitary adenomas, and the recurrence rate is notably high. The ability to predict tumour recurrence during initial surgery will aid in determining if adjunctive therapy is required to reduce recurrence. With the aim of developing a circular RNA (circRNA) signature to improve prognosis prediction in NFPA, the present study examined the circRNA expression profiles in 73 patients with NFPA from Beijing Tiantan Hospital using high-throughput RNA chip technology. The dataset was randomly separated into a training group and a test group using an R program. In the training group (n=37), a Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to analyse the genes associated with the recurrence and progression-free survival (PFS) of patients with NFPA. Meanwhile, a random survival forest algorithm, Kaplan-Meier and receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analyses were used to determine the multi-circRNA signature with the largest area under the ROC curve (AUROC) and verify its efficacy in the test group (n=36). In the training and test groups, the signatures of two circRNAs (hsa_circ_0000066 and hsa_circ_0069707) were specifically associated with the PFS of patients with NFPA (log-rank P<0.05). Furthermore, the two-circRNA signature had a high prediction accuracy for tumour recurrence, with an AUROC of 0.87 and 0.67 in the training and test groups, respectively; and the discriminative power of the signature was greater compared with that of age. The present study is the first to suggest a circRNA signature with a clinical application value for predicting recurrence/progression in patients with NFPA.

Novel Insights into Pituitary Tumorigenesis: Genetic and Epigenetic Mechanisms

“…Ten circRNAs are upregulated in recurrent compared to primary tumors ( 302 ). In fact, a signature of two circRNAs (hsa_circ_0000066 and hsa_circ_0069707) is suggested to predict tumor recurrence in NFPTs ( 304 ).…”

Identifying critical protein‑coding genes and long non‑coding RNAs in non‑functioning pituitary adenoma recurrence

“…A previous study tried to establish a statistical model that combined clinical features (age and tumor volume) and molecular markers (p16, WIF1 and TGF-β) to evaluate the recurrence probability of patients with NFPA postoperatively ( 50 ). Moreover, compared with a previous study ( 51 ), the current study added a temporal component to the prognostic assessment and independently assessed the prognosis of patients at different time points.…”

“…Nakano et al ( 66 ) demonstrated that the mRNA and protein levels of MOV10 in cancer cells, such as human leukemia and human cervical carcinoma cells, were higher compared with those in normal cells. In addition, MOV10 has been revealed to promote the angiogenesis of glioma by binding circ-DICER1 ( 51 ). These studies indicated that MOV10 could be critical in tumorigenesis.…”

An exploration of non-coding RNA in exosomes delivered by swine anterior pituitary

“…Otherwise, some lncRNAs could coexpressed with genes involved in exosome marker protein, protein transport and exosome docking such as CD63, CD81, TSG101, Rab27A, Rab27B, UBL3. The signal of a two-circRNA was found could predict tumor recurrence in clinically non-functioning pituitary adenoma [123]. Another study determined that thousands of sheep genes could express circRNAs in the pituitary gland [124].…”