Purpose: Filamin A (FLNA) expression is related to dopamine receptor type 2 (DRD2) expression in prolactinomas. Nevertheless, in corticotrophinomas, there are few studies about DRD2 expression and no data on FLNA. Therefore, we evaluated FLNA and DRD2 expression in corticotrophinomas and their association with tumor characteristics.
Methods: DRD2 and FLNA expression by immunohistochemistry, using H-score, based on the percentage of positive cells in a continuous scale of 0-300, were evaluated in 23 corticotrophinomas samples from patients submitted to neurosurgery. In six patients, treatment with cabergoline was indicated after non curative surgery.
Results: Twenty-two patients were female and one male. Regarding tumor size, 10 were micro and 12 were macroadenomas. DRD2 expression was found in 89% of cases and did not correlate with FLNA expression. Moreover, the response to cabergoline, observed in 33% of the cases, did not correlate with DRD2 nor FLNA expression. FLNA expression was not associated with clinical and tumor characteristics, except for sphenoid sinus invasion.
Conclusions: In our cohort of corticotrophinomas, DRD2 expression was not associated with FLNA expression nor to the response to CAB. Nonetheless, FLNA expression could be related to tumor invasiveness.
Keywords: Cabergoline; Corticotrophinomas; Cushing’s disease; DRD2; Filamin A.