title: Ret/PTC chimeric transcripts in an Irish cohort of sporadic papillary thyroid carcinoma.
abstract: Ret rearrangements are common in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), with ret/PTC-3 commonly seen in children exposed to ionizing radiation. In this context ret/PTC-3 has been correlated with solid variant morphology, poorer prognosis, and aggressive tumor behavior. We aimed to assess the prevalence of the common ret chimeric transcripts (ret/PTC-1 and ret/PTC-3) in a group of sporadic PTC and correlate them with tumor morphology. Thyroid follicular cells were laser capture microdissected from sections of archival PTC (n = 28). Total RNA was extracted and analyzed for expression of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, ret/PTC-1, and ret/PTC-3 using TaqMan PCR. Ret/PTC rearrangements were detected in 60% of PTCs. Specifically transcripts of ret/PTC-1 and ret/PTC-3 were detected in 43% and 18% of PTCs, respectively. Ret/PTC-3 was detected in only follicular variant subtype (60%) and was not detected in classic PTC. One case of tall cell variant demonstrated chimeric expression of both ret/PTC-1 and ret/PTC-3 transcripts within the same tumor. This study demonstrated a high prevalence of the two common ret rearrangements in an Irish cohort of PTCs. A correlation of tumor morphology with these common ret rearrangements is suggested.
authors.affiliation: Department of Histopathology, Trinity College and St. James's Hospital, Dublin 8, Ireland.
authors.forename: Stephen P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Finn
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Smyth
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: O'Leary
authors.forename: Eamon C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Sweeney
authors.forename: Orla
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sheils
mesh_terms: D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; C416649:Ret protein, Drosophila