Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29344904›Full record

ArticlePituitary2018

MGMT assessment in pituitary adenomas: comparison of different immunohistochemistry fixation chemicals.

Alexander S G Micko, Romana Höftberger, Adelheid Wöhrer, Matthias Millesi, Engelbert Knosp, Stefan Wolfsberger

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Pituitary, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 32% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. DNA Methylation in Pituitary Adenomas: A Scoping Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Article
  3. Review
  4. Review
  5. OFrontiers in oncology · 2019
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Alexander S G MickoDepartment of Neurosurgery, Medical University Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1097, Vienna, Austria.
Romana HöftbergerInstitute of Neurology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Adelheid WöhrerInstitute of Neurology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Matthias MillesiDepartment of Neurosurgery, Medical University Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1097, Vienna, Austria.
Engelbert KnospDepartment of Neurosurgery, Medical University Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1097, Vienna, Austria. engelbert.knosp@meduniwien.ac.at.
Stefan WolfsbergerDepartment of Neurosurgery, Medical University Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1097, Vienna, Austria.
Medical University of Vienna · AT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeDespite the established role of O6-methyl-guanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) as a marker for temozolomide response, consensus of the most reliable method to assess MGMT expression in pituitary adenomas is still missing. Currently, immunohistochemistry (IHC) assessment of formaldehyde fixed tissue samples is most widely used in a semiquantitative description. As formaldehyde fails to completely preserve nucleic acids, RCL2, an alcohol-based formaldehyde-free fixative, has been proposed as a more reliable alternative in terms of cell stability. Furthermore, as the current method of IHC is semiquantitative and observer-dependent, pyrosequencing, an objective tool to evaluate the methylation status of the MGMT promoter, has emerged as a reliable and accurate alternative. The aim of this study was to validate the current IHC method for assessment of MGMT protein expression in pituitary adenomas.

methodsThe tissue samples of 8 macroadenomas with positive IHC MGMT expression (> 50%) were investigated: first, we compared the time dependent stability of MGMT protein expression after pituitary adenoma removal between formaldehyde vs. RCL2. Then, we compared positive IHC MGMT expression with methylated promoter status using pyrosequencing.

resultsIn the first 12 h after adenoma removal, tissue samples remained MGMT positive in significantly more samples when fixated with formaldehyde than with RCL2, respectively (96 vs. 81%, p = 0.025).

conclusionOur data confirm that the current method using formaldehyde tissue fixation and IHC reveals stable and reliable results of MGMT assessment in pituitary adenomas.

Indexed as

AdenomaDNA MethylationFemaleHumansImmunohistochemistryMaleO(6)-Methylguanine-DNA MethyltransferasePituitary NeoplasmsPromoter Regions, GeneticO(6)-Methylguanine-DNA MethyltransferaseMGMTPituitary adenomaPromoter methylationTime dependent

Identifiers

PMID29344904
PMCPMC5942339
OpenAlexW2791759657

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.