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©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Dec 16, 2025; 13(35): 112585
Published online Dec 16, 2025. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i35.112585
Published online Dec 16, 2025. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i35.112585
Phenotypic and functional characteristics of pituitary adenoma stem cells
Edoardo Agosti, Lorenzo Gelmini, Pier Paolo Panciani, Alessandro Fiorindi, Marco Maria Fontanella, Francesco Tengattini, Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Medical and Surgical Specialties, Radiological Sciences and Public Health, University of Brescia, Brescia 25123, Italy
Luca Denaro, Academic Neurosurgery, Department of Neurosciences, University of Padova, Padova 35121, Italy
Caterina Gagliano, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Enna “Kore”, Enna 94100, Italy
Caterina Gagliano, Eye Center, G.B. Morgagni-DSV, Catania 95125, Italy
Daniele Tognetto, Marco Zeppieri, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste 34129, Italy
Marco Zeppieri, Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Udine, Udine 33100, Italy
Author contributions: Agosti E, Panciani PP, Fontanella MM, and Zeppieri M wrote the outline; Agosti E, Panciani PP, Tengattini F, Gelmini L, Fiorindi A, and Fontanella MM did the research; Agosti E, Panciani PP, Gelmini L, Fiorindi A, and Fontanella MM, Denaro L, Gagliano C, Tognetto D, and Zeppieri M assisted in the writing of the draft and final paper; Agosti E, Panciani PP, and Zeppieri M were responsible for the conception and design of the study; Zeppieri M assisted in the editing. All authors involved in making critical revisions of the manuscript and viewing all versions of the manuscript. All authors provided the final approval of the article.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Marco Zeppieri, MD, PhD, Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Udine, Piazzale Santa Maria della Misericordia 15, Udine 33100, Italy.
Received: July 31, 2025
Revised: August 20, 2025
Accepted: December 10, 2025
Published online: December 16, 2025
Processing time: 138 Days and 14.2 Hours
Revised: August 20, 2025
Accepted: December 10, 2025
Published online: December 16, 2025
Processing time: 138 Days and 14.2 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Pituitary adenoma stem cells are a functionally distinct subpopulation within pituitary neuroendocrine tumors, exhibiting stem-like traits such as self-renewal, multipotency, and resistance to dopamine agonists and somatostatin analogs. This systematic review consolidates evidence from 34 studies, highlighting the expression of key markers like SRY-related HMG-box transcription factor 2, CD133, and Nestin, and the involvement of dysregulated pathways including Wnt/beta-catenin, Notch, Sonic hedgehog. Pituitary adenoma stem cells are implicated in tumorigenesis, invasion, and recurrence, making them compelling targets for future therapies aimed at overcoming resistance and preventing relapse in pituitary neuroendocrine tumors.