title: Expression of calcitonin gene-related peptide in medullary thyroid cancer.
abstract: We studied the expression of calcitonin (CT) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) in 18 patients with medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) in the neoplastic (primary or metastatic) tissue by immunohistochemistry and in the plasma by radioimmunoassay. CT immunoreactivity was found in 100% of the primary and metastatic MTC, CGRP was expressed in 66% of the primary tumors and in 73% of the metastases. Both the number of positive cells and the degree of staining were always higher for CT than for CGRP staining. While plasma CT concentrations were always increased in patients with metastases, 3 patients with metastases had undetectable plasma CGRP levels. A positive correlation was found between plasma CT and CGRP levels. These data indicate that CGRP is frequently expressed in MTC sections and that plasma CGRP measurement is an additional marker for MTC, although has no advantage with respect to CT measurements in monitoring the progression of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Endocrinologia, University of Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pacini
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fugazzola
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Basolo
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Elisei
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pinchera
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002116:Calcitonin / Q000096:biosynthesis; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000601:surgery; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D002116:Calcitonin; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide