The classification of pituitary tumors is frequently updated to optimize guidance for clinical treatment based on current knowledge. To date, the World Health Organization conducts periodic expert review consensus meetings and publishes the results. These include recommendations for the behavior of more aggressive, high Ki-67 index (>3%)pituitary. A high Knosp grade (>3) is associated with a high risk of recurrence. We report an inverse relationship between the Ki-67 labeling index and Knosp grade for functional pituitary adenomas and nonfunctional pituitary adenoma (Spearman correlation coefficient in functional pituitary adenomas r= -0.59, p < .001 n = 75 and r = 0.367, p < .01 n = 168 in nonfunctional pituitary adenoma), and suggest that this results from early diagnosis and treatment before they become aggressive and recurrent. There were few articles analyzing the correlation of Ki-67 labeling index and Knosp classification of pituitary adenomas.Our study showed they were negatively correlated in functional pituitary adenomas and positive correlated in nonfunctional pituitary adenomas.
Keywords: Ki-67 labeling index; Knosp classification; Pituitary adenomas.