Pituitary adenomas. Immunocytochemical study of 150 tumors with clinicopathologic correlation.

Retrospective immunocytochemical study of prolactin, growth hormone, ACTH, TSH and gonadotropins was performed on 150 pituitary adenomas from 142 patients and the results were correlated with clinical manifestations. There were 60 prolactin-positive tumors, 13 growth hormone-positive tumors, nine ACTH-positive tumors and seven gonadotropin-positive tumors. Seven tumors showed positivity for both prolactin and growth hormone, one tumor was positive for prolactin and ACTH and another was positive for prolactin and TSH. Fifty-two tumors were negative for all the hormones. In the hormone secreting tumors, the results of immunocytochemical study correlated very well with clinical manifestations, while most of the hormone-negative tumors were nonfunctioning clinically. This study demonstrates the reliability of the immunocytochemical method in clinicopathologic study of pituitary adenomas.