Tie-1 tyrosine kinase expression in human thyroid neoplasms.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate tie-1 expression in human thyroid neoplasms. Recent studies have demonstrated that receptor-type tyrosine kinases (RTKs) contribute to carcinoma progression. Tie-1 is one of the RTKs and plays a role in angiogenesis, although its pathophysiological significance in human carcinoma is still to be elucidated.


RESULTS
Immunohistochemical expression of tie-1 was studied in various thyroid neoplasms. Tie-1 immunoreactivity was only occasionally observed in normal follicular cells. In papillary carcinoma, tie-1 was classified as positive in carcinoma cells in 55.7% of the cases and was more frequently expressed in those of smaller size with an absence of a poorly differentiated lesion. In contrast, tie-1 was positive in only 8.3% of anaplastic carcinoma and no cases of follicular carcinoma or adenoma were positive.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that tie-1 has a role in thyroid tumorigenesis, especially in the early phase of papillary carcinoma, but it is not important in the progression of anaplastic carcinoma or follicular tumour.
Ito
Y
Y
Kuma Hospital, Kobe, Japan. ito01@kuma-h.or.jp
Yoshida
H
H
Uruno
T
T
Nakano
K
K
Takamura
Y
Y
Miya
A
A
Kobayashi
K
K
Yokozawa
T
T
Matsuzuka
F
F
Kuma
K
K
Miyauchi
A
A
D002277:Carcinoma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D042810:Receptor, TIE-1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology
D042810:Receptor, TIE-1